The longest night
by Mireilles3
Summary: A captured Luke just can't believe just how cruel and uncaring Vader is... until he discovers the secrets behind his father's imperial service. Can he help him? Or is he also doomed to a life of imperial servitude? And just what is the Emperor's secret means of control? Read and find out! L/E/A/M/etc. lots of angst, drama, intrigue, etc. Please, R and R!
1. Chapter 1

The longest night

By Mireille

2001/2012

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

Here is the second of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

The story with the most readers and reviews will be my next project in the works. Since it can take a few parts before we finally get to the crux of some stories, I won't check the final tally right from the start. However, only the total of both reviews and lasting readers will determine which story I'm going to work on first, so, if you like this one, leave a review to vote for it

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this story as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts!

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Author's note: This prologue is a rewrite of the beginning of an old fic called A Disturbance in the Force. That older fic was based on a suggestion made by Rebekah Nichols. Although more than a decade have passed since then, thanks for your suggestion, my friend. If you're still out there reading, I hope you'll enjoy this new twist to your old basic idea :) After this prologue is over, this is going to be completely different than the old fic you might remember.

And let's kick this thing off!

* * *

Prologue

That night, while Executor finally slid into high orbit around Nar Shaddaa, Vader felt once again the elusive ripple that had been teasing and nagging at him for the past weeks. He had been on his son's trail for almost a month now, always barely missing him. At first, he had been days behind his son's visits, but the more resources he had devoted to the chase, the faster he had located Luke anew so that he had eventually been only hours too late, and, last time, mere minutes too late so as to keep the boy from escaping yet again into hyperspace and toward a new destination.

Fortunately, Vader had always managed to trace back his son's activities and 'extract' the necessary information from those that had led Luke one step further in his search for his missing Corellian friend.

The Dark Lord of the Sith didn't care about whether the information about Fett's whereabouts was reliable or not - and he had discovered that it wasn't always so - but the truth about the boy's next destination had mattered most importantly, as the rebel's contacts had learnt in painful ways.

Slowly but surely, he had managed to shave off minutes and hours off the delay that separated his son's departures from Vader's arrivals so that, at last, he had finally caught up with the elusive Jedi.

His agents had done a good job making sure that the smuggler targeted by Luke's group would not be anywhere to be found upon the Falcon's landing so that the boy would have no choice but to remain on the planet for the local night.

'Toxic procedures' at the spaceport had also forced the rebels to seek a hotel to stay in, and so, despite the enemy's best efforts to disappear on the smuggler's moon, the rebels were still easy to locate for the Dark Lord of the Sith.

After all, his son's presence was shining like a bright beacon in the Force, betraying both the boy's and his allies' presence 'and' precise whereabouts.

Aware that he had but seconds to act before the boy also Felt his presence and resumed his fleeing, Vader focused his senses and reached out, mentally burrowing down distance and levels of steel and concrete until he had found the boy's physical presence.

When he did, he stroke without restraint or delay.

* * *

Luke was sitting on the floor of the musty hotel room that he, Lando and Chewie had found refuge in. He was meditating on their next course of action - when an ice-cold Force grip found his mind and grasped him tightly.

He mentally scuttled away from the all-too-familiar presence, but his reaction had come a fraction of a second too late.

Vader's presence seemed to completely extend toward him and shifted its inescapable hold, keeping him in his mental iron-like grip; the other's Force then literally paralyzed Luke where he was, which was deep in the Force as well as in a physical state that was somewhere between sleep and awake.

*I have you now. It is useless to resist, Son," the cold-hearted monster said with finality.

No, it was not, Luke thought desperately as he fought with all his might against the mental bonds, trying to break free of the other's restraining powers so as to reintegrate his complete awareness.

*You have grown strong since Bespin, Luke," the other commented as if he were reading his thoughts, *but not strong enough for that."

*Don't you dare speak my name, you monster!" the youth mentally growled while he frantically scanned his invisible bonds in hopes of finding a weakness through which he could slip away from the Dark Lord.

*I see that your attitude hasn't changed since our last encounter," the dark lord commented, from closer this time. *We'll have to talk at length about a few matters."

Even as he registered the others' words, Luke felt cold all over his soul and body as he realized that his tormentor was already on his way to physically capture him.

Noooo! He mentally shrieked in sheer despair. No! This couldn't be happening again! He was almost a Jedi now! He shouldn't be caught as easily as before, or without even a fighting chance!

Sadly though, no matter how strong he had become throughout the past months, and no matter how adamant he was to escape the Dark Lord as he had on a few other occasions... his wish went unheard and unheeded.

In front of him, Lando and Chewie were still waiting for his input, unaware of his mental fight against his father.

* * *

Meanwhile, aboard his personal shuttle, Darth Vader was pleased by his son's strength.

He then reflected that with appropriate grooming, Luke would truly reach his full potential and become the person that he was meant to be.

Aware that the still-temperamental Jedi would not elude him this time, he took his time to study this new Luke at his leisure, taking note of the different effects that their encounter on Bespin had had on the boy.

He was stronger in the Force, more self-controlled, and a little less reckless than when he had first met him, yet he was still idealistic and was struggling harder than ever against his anger.

The infamous Skywalker anger.

As he made that comparison between the two of them, the more experienced dark lord suddenly felt that his boy had somehow managed to slightly connect back with his physical body; surprised yet pleased by this near-impossible occurrence, he reinforced the mental barrier around his son's soul.

The young Jedi predictably lashed out at this, trying to 'pounce' his way through the barrier. He only managed to hurt his soul in the process.

Intending to retrieve the furious youth before he could truly inflict serious mental damage upon himself with his attempt to resist, Vader ordered his pilots to fly faster and at a steeper angle toward the depths of Nar Shaddaa.

* * *

Inside the third-rate hotel, Luke restrained a mental scream of anguish; he was literally trapped away from his body.

Worse, his 'pounding' hadn't done anything except weakening him while giving him the beginning of a 'headache', or a sensation that felt like one anyway.

He was done for, he wept silently. If he couldn't even take control of his body, and if he was not powerful enough to free himself from whatever the Dark Lord had done to him, then he would be completely defenseless when the other would-

As if to confirm his dreadful theory, the oppression of Vader's mind became more insistent, even more focused. He was ordering him to go to sleep-and his mind was already beginning to obey the command! He realized in panic.

Instantly determined not to give the other the satisfaction of yet another humiliating victory over him, the Jedi focused his strength on his will to remain awake while he kept trying to find a way to escape.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the decrepit hotel room, the firefight had begun. Vader had arrived with troops that would take care of the rebels while he would personally deal with the overcome Jedi.

Except for the rebels individuals, the hotel had been mostly deserted, and the clerk had readily cooperated and evacuated as well.

Once in the room, the troopers had quickly opened fire on the slim defences of Calrissian and the Wookiee, who was watching over his son's unaware body as if he were his own child; upon seeing this, Vader sent both conscious rebels flying into the back wall, thus ensuring his boy's safety from any stray bolt. Then, while the troopers took care of Luke's companions, Vader crouched by the still slumped Jedi and took a moment to study him.

Indeed, the boy had grown in many ways since Bespin. He looked physically stronger, and he had obviously matured in more than one way.

Very pleased by those discoveries, but aware that his son would be a potential troublemaker until the end of the retrieval operation, he touched the Jedi's temple, adding a compulsion to his command. *Sleep now," he ordered him.

His son faltered slightly under the double mental assault, but surprisingly recovered and resumed his fight.

He still couldn't come back to his senses though. Despite his failure to put his son truly out of fighting order for the time being, Vader couldn't help but appreciate his son's unexpected level of mastery.

Yet, the father was still the more powerful of the two, he reflected while he studied their current face-off. Even though the beleaguered rebels were calling for the boy's help, and that the Jedi was aware of it, Luke couldn't answer them, inform them of his predicament, let alone assist them.

This forced paralysis was greatly grating at his son's temper, making him hate further than ever.

Vader was about to try and address that fact with the youth when the troops finally subdued the Wookiee.

One trooper then stood at attention behind him. "The rebels have been captured, my Lord."

"Good, lock this one in electroshock cuffs and bring him with the others."

The trooper obeyed without question, taking Luke and his friends out of the room and down into waiting imperial prisoner transports. There, Vader diverted the Jedi toward his personal shuttle while he ordered his troopers to deliver the other prisoners to the nearest garrison.

* * *

From the prison of his mind, Luke heard it all and redoubled his efforts to regain his awareness, but as Vader had said on Bespin, he was not a Jedi yet. Still, he fought back with all his might.

As a result, he almost shocked himself out cold when his mental bonds suddenly disappeared and that his physical arms were finally able to obey his mental orders to strain sideways.

He refrained from crying out loud, but he still moaned loud enough for his captor to focus his attention on him. They were alone aboard the shuttle, flying toward a higher orbit.

"I'm sure that you are familiar with this kind of restraints, Son. If you behave, you won't be hurt further."

Luke, who was still feeling woozy thanks to the intense shock that he had just absorbed, meant to glare at the other and give him a piece of his mind about his supposedly magnanimous attitudes, and then realized that he was still slumped enough to pretend that he had truly knocked himself out with his latest reaction.

He did not want to face Vader anytime soon, did not want to-

"You are not fooling me, Son," the other retorted with what sounded like amusement in his amplified voice.

Luke growled in frustration and glared at his father, foregoing any illusion of unconsciousness while he straightened in his seat. "Don't call me that, monster!" He spat vehemently. "I'm not your son."

"Then why do you think the word?"

Luke hissed in indignation at that. "Get out of my head!" he retorted more furiously, and had barely begun to raise his arms to attack Vader, who was focusing on his piloting, when a new bolt of energy convinced him to sit still.

He still earned himself another punishing jolt and groaned at the new torment. Great, he muttered inwardly, the cuffs were not only locked around his wrists but also to the chair's right armrest so that any pull from his part also triggered their disabling effect.

Meanwhile, oblivious to his new defiance, Vader continued his discussion as if their relationship was like everybody else' and not Luke's worst nightmare. "So you admit that you think it, then," he prompted him coolly.

Luke glared anew, annoyed that Vader seemed to not only be impervious to any of his verbal attacks, but that the Sith also had the upper hand on him. Again. "I don't admit anything," he snarled, turning away from the dark lord when the other turned his head to look at him.

A silence followed those words. Luke looked outside the side viewport of the shuttle. They had begun the landing procedures.

They were already in Executor's shadow! Scared anew by what that implied for a rebel Jedi like him, he quickly reached out with the Force and worked on his cuffs.

He had barely found his focus when his father blocked him even as he mentally slapped him away from his connection with the Force. "Behave," was the only warning he gave him.

"Sure," Luke drawled, straining hard to recover from his sudden disconnection with the Force. One moment, he had been reaching out, and the second, he had been slammed back into his normal senses. His head was spinning now while his mind seemed to be plummeting back down toward Nar Shaddaa.

Then, as the shuttle began its final approach in one of Excecutor's smaller hangar bay, Luke's resistance rose again, a rush of adrenaline forcing him back to his fully-aware status.

He began once again to try and find a way to escape his predicament; his father unfortunately felt his very uncooperative mood and decided to knock him out yet again.

This time, he literally rammed inside Luke's mind with the speed of a viper, catching him unprepared.

The youth had barely begun raising his fledgling block that Vader's compulsion had already taken hold in his mind and had put him to sleep.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like this 'kind' of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :) Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	2. Chapter 2

The longest night

By Mireille

02-01-01/2012

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

Here is the second part of the second of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

Remember? The story with the most readers and reviews will be my next project in the works. So, if you like this one, leave a review to vote for it

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this story as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts!

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 2: revelation rites

Ever since the events of Bespin, Darth Vader had been wondering how best to proceed with his rebellious son when he once again caught him.

He had juggled with ideas that had ranged from trying to show leniency with him, to outright torture that would have the most hardened man begging for death, and anything in between.

In the end, he had decided to use a method that was seldom practiced on humans even though it was not lethal for them. It was simply unknown to most, as was the race from which it originated.

Nodding at the cowled and small figure that was preparing his tools in the corner of his son's cell, Vader turned his attention to the slowly recovering boy.

He had been secured in a kneeling position, his legs held to the deck by his ankles and from behind his knees while his hands were bound together and pulled as high as possible through the chains that locked his arms to the ceiling. The Jedi had also been stripped of his clothing saved for his underwear. That way, the cold of the cell would seep right into his bones before long while his knees would quickly become a torture tool of their own, locked as they were on the hard and cold deck.

Hopefully, it would be enough to convince his stubborn child to change his mind about his offer, and especially before they reached Coruscant and that the Emperor took custody of the Jedi.

He patiently waited for the child to take stock of the situation before he addressed him. After all, he already knew how much Luke dreaded the prospect of any new torture at his hand, so there was still hope that, perhaps, just perhaps, that would be enough to scare the child into obedience.

When the boy raised his blue eyes to glare at him, however, the dark lord of the Sith admitted defeat as far as that possibility went. It would have been all too easy and he should have known it.

"You are already defeated, Son," he began without preamble. "It is useless to resist, and this time, there will not be any escape either."

"Don't call me that," the child bit out vehemently while he tested his bonds, only to still when they shocked him for his efforts.

Vader shrugged slightly in answer before he turned back toward the waiting alien, motioning forward. He then turned back toward the boy, who had frozen at the sight of the steel-gray, diminutive-looking alien that had stepped toward him, a wicked-looking steel instrument held in his clawed hand. "This is your last chance to change your mind and join me, Luke. If not, then I suggest you do so before we reach Coruscant. Once there, the Emperor will teach you the true nature of the Force, and it can be most torturous for the unwilling. I do not wish that for you."

"Right," his son stared in resent at him. "And what do you call that? A friendly father/son chit chat?"

"A desperate measure," he answered with a shake of his head. "Stop resisting and it will not progress any further."

"Never. I'll never join you, or the dark side, or the Empire."

"Then you have made your choice, child. We'll talk later." He turned on his heels and walked out while the Noghri soldier stepped within touching range of the strung-up Jedi.

Mere seconds later, his son's scream of pain echoed down the detention block while the Force resonated with the boy's mental shriek of unnatural agony.

Vader left with only slight regret, wishing that it could be otherwise. He knew exactly what the boy was going through and he didn't relish doing this to him.

* * *

In the cell, the small alien continued to expertly torment the Jedi through his body's pain and pressure points that were also related to his Force sensitivity, somehow. Meanwhile, the imperial drugs enhanced the effects of the already agonizing technique, challenging the rebel's resolve to the utmost.

When the hated steel needle rotated yet again in his body, conjuring up suffering that wasn't limited to his body but that somehow seared his Force senses with scalding pain. At first, he had wondered what he could do with his sixth sense to escape his predicament, but now, he almost wished that he didn't have that sixth sense so that his suffering was limited to his physical body.

"Please..." he gasped when he was finally freed from that new agony.

"Do you join our Lord Vader, Son of Vader?"

Although the Jedi was exhausted and held up only by his quivering arms, he still slit his eyes and glared blaster bolts at the alien's words. "Don't call me th-aaaaah!"

Although he was practically certain that the needle now stuck in his solar plexus had not been heated up in any way, it still felt as if his heart and lungs were suddenly sizzling from the scorching touch of the alien device. He howled in sheer agony, his body suddenly bereft of much needed oxygen as his diaphragm's spasms began making it harder and harder to breathe sufficiently. He was also writhing from his overhead bonds like a fish on a hook, and his heart felt as if it were burning a hole right through his blistering torso.

Then, as if it wasn't enough, his Force senses were feeling like a vise that would soon crush his soul into mulch.

Then, the needle was out and he was gasping for breath while his body did its best to keep tormenting him from the after effects of the invasions of his nervous system.

"Each new touch will be more painful than the previous one, Son of Vader. Choose wisely."

"Go..." he breathed while he fought against his urge to throw up in disgust and horror. "to…"

As the alien had warned him, the next needle, larger and sharper than the previous one, was worse than even what he had just endured. He shrieked and howled for as long as it remained in his flesh, the effect of its grinding against his sternum making him yearn for death right there, right then.

Unfortunately, he didn't even fall unconscious to escape his latest torment.

Time went on, just as unforgiving as his alien torturer.

* * *

When Vader returned in his son's cell, several days later, the child looked the worse for wear, and his Force presence felt as if it were trembling from fright. However, the stubborn brat still wouldn't give in.

He decided to up the ante by involving a torture droid to challenge the boy's resolve further. However, he didn't step in himself, careful not to antagonize the boy further.

That just wouldn't do for their future together.

Still, even with the increased level of torture, Luke held strong, refusing to even reconsider his decision.

When Executor finally slid into orbit around Coruscant, the exhausted boy was a sight that made even the cool-headed troopers shiver when they came in to retrieve the child for his transfer to the palace.

Vader silently – secretly - apologized to him before he led the small group out and toward his waiting shuttle, the troopers dragging the inert body of the Jedi between them.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like this 'kind' of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	3. Chapter 3

The longest night

By Mireille

02-01-01/2012

* * *

Previously: Vader captured his son and, using the Noghri revelation rites, tried to break Luke's will before they reached Coruscant. It didn't work.

* * *

Good evening everyone :)

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented the first posts and/or voted for this story. I'm glad you enjoy it this much already and I hope that your fun will continue with the next addition :)

Here is the third part of the second of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

Important! After the fourth part, I will close the first round of the poll and focus/update only the winning story for the next year or so... The other stories will remain available but incomplete until I have finished the winner of your collective choice :)

Said winner will be the story with the most returning readers, reviews and/or alerts and comments through PMs. So, if you like this one, or if this new chapter suddenly makes this story the most interesting of the list, leave a review to vote for it as a whole :) You can also vote more than once for your favorite using PMs ;P

As of today, the vote is heading in the following direction :

1 - Unexpected (478 points)

2- Incarnations (295 points)

3 - The balance of the Force and Deceit are ex aequo (222 points)

In fifth and sixth positions are An Unfortunate Blessing and It is Useless to Resist.

If you want to try and change the direction of the vote after reading this new part, you know what to do :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this new post as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts :D

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 3: Secrets revealed

What drew Luke out of his pain-filled dazed was the fact that his legs weren't dragging on the deck anymore, or in the stairs that his escorts had been climbing while still carrying him. He could also feel the ominous presence of the Emperor less than five feet away from him.

He understood that the troopers were holding him under his arms and they were standing behind Vader's imposing body while their group stood straight in front of the Emperor's throne.

Somehow, his father's presence seemed to act as some kind of physical shield between his soul and the Emperor's and it really confused him. What game was he playing now? He wondered warily. He tried to raise his head and see with his eyes what he could feel with the Force.

He couldn't even muster the necessary energy to even open his eyes, let alone gather the strength to act on his intention. He had a _really_ bad feeling about all this.

"I've brought your new slave as ordered, Master."

"Most excellent," the despot grated maliciously. "I also see that his will truly isn't broken, as you reported."

"And as you foretold, Master," Vader bowed in respect of his master's powers and greater wisdom. "Please forgive my failure to deliver him otherwise."

Palpatine slowly stood up from his throne and stepped closer to the dark lord and his cloak-covered prisoner. "There is nothing to forgive, my friend." He waved the other's concern away. "You deserved a chance to intervene. However, like I suspected, your son didn't accept your offer. He made his own choice, then."

Luke, who was still fighting against his body's need to just fall unconscious and finally rest, shuddered despite himself at the Emperor's heartless statement. Whatever the Sith master had in mind for him next, it was probably as bad as Vader had warned him, if not worse.

"You have done well, Lord Vader. Return to the Executor. I have need of your motivational skills at Endor. The project is falling yet again behind schedule."

To Luke's horror, Vader bowed obediently and, without a word of objection of even a second glance at his son – his son! he wanted to shout at him in indignation – the Sith lord stepped back and turned on his heels before he walked out of the throne room, leaving his cruel master and his helpless son alone, as ordered.

Luke, who was still barely able to lift his head on his own, wished that he could do something – anything – to express the horror and disbelief that filled him. Unfortunately, though, his body was currently useless to him, and using the Force was out of the question in his actual state of mind.

He would not fall this easily to the Dark Side; he swore it.

"Indeed, my young Jedi, you will not," the Emperor answered his unspoken thought, chilling him to the core when the despot stepped ever closer to him. "You will fall even more easily than you suspect."

Luke then heard the rustle of robes as the other turned around. He moaned loudly when the troopers pulled his weight further up and back into their solid grip.

"Bring him."

Luke whimpered in complaint when his wounded legs resumed dragging behind him, but he used the stimulus of that pain to rouse himself further and figure out what the enemy had in mind for him.

He was aware that they were headed toward a side room that was level with the throne floor, but what awaited him was completely unexpected.

In truth, it was not a room but rather a secret corridor, and down that corridor, after stepping through a door that hadn't looked like one before the Emperor's Force push, there was a truly well-hidden room.

What was in that secret room, for its part, utterly chilled Luke in horror.

In it, two medical droids and an old-looking human medic were waiting for him near what could only be an operation table, but with sturdy-looking locks.

All of a sudden, adrenaline coursed through him once again and he found the strength to try and struggle free of the troopers' grip. Like before, though, his efforts were completely useless.

He was simply and helplessly at their mercy.

The troopers then pulled him completely off the deck and swiftly slapped him down face first on the operation table, positioning him on his chest. Then, while he was still gasping for air and reeling from the impact of his head with the unyielding surface, they tied his wrists and ankles in Jedi-proof locks.

"Whatever you do to me," he grated through clenched teeth. "You will never win. Evil can never win. The Force will see to it."

"Like it has seen to my demise so far?" Palpatine sneered in derision while dismissing the troopers with a mere gesture of his hand. Once alone with the medical team and the prisoner, he stepped within eyesight of his captive. "I don't think so. The truth is that I win again today, young Skywalker. You, like your father, are now mine."

"Never!"

"You will be surprised how easily one can come to do my bidding," he smirked malevolently, and then, just as he was about to signal his medical staff to begin with whatever he had in mind, he seemed to change his mind and instead pulled a thickly padded chair to himself with the Force.

He then sat regally in the throne-like chair and stared straight into the Jedi's eyes.

Luke met his sulphurous glare without flinching.

"But there is no rush to remove _you_ from the equation, is there?" he smirked confidently and Luke struggled to free himself, to no avail. "Yes, and since I will never have another occasion to share my best-kept secret with you, the last of the accursed Jedi, let's chat a little, you and I. Besides," he shrugged while he leaned back in his chair in content, "perhaps what you will learn about your father's attempt to resist me will save you from repeating his mistake, thus save yourself from any ensuing 'mishap' like his accident on Mustafar."

Whereas Luke had been ready to tell the Sith where he could shove his plans for him, the despot's words completely shocked him physically and mentally still. His father?.. He had not... What?

"Oh yes, young one," Palpatine nodded in malignant pleasure, "Anakin Skywalker was a very noble and selfless Jedi Knight, too noble, as it turned out," he mused in disappointment. "When I offered him to become my Sith apprentice in order to save your mother, he refused. At that time, I had already perfected this particular Sith technology on those who became my best civilian servants in my quest for ultimate ruling, but he was the first Jedi that I tried this technique with."

Luke's eyes widened in concern when the Emperor picked up a very thin and supple-looking device from a nearby tray; the circular device, which was long enough to fit around his head or his neck, was obviously meant for him. He resumed his useless struggle against his bonds until he was yet again spent of what little energy he had just found.

Grinning meanly at his loss of composure and absolute helplessness, the tyrant waited for him to quiet down once again before he slowly showed his device to him from every angle, clearly enjoying his distress as the youth understood what was about to happen.

In a way, the flexible band reminded Luke of the collars that he had seen on domestic pets, or even the chokers that he had seen on slaves that he had freed during missions. Yet, for all the similarities, this model looked much more sophisticated than what he had seen before. Instead of a lock, it ended in a multitude of wires while its inner side was covered with microchips and other types of technology that he couldn't recognize.

"As you have gathered by now, it worked like a charm," Palpatine went on, aware that he was psychologically tormenting him to no end and clearly enjoying every moment of it. "I already held control of your father when he '_sent_' the Jedi after me, and then when he initiated the Jedi purges. From the first moment it was activated, my wish became his command, as it was always meant to be. Unfortunately for him, however, as a Jedi and despite the agony he was in, he was able to remain in sufficient control of his body to struggle against the collar's control of his mind. To teach him subservience, I made him kill your mother when she went after him. That day, he learnt his lesson about ever trying to resist me ever again. Indeed, the last time I checked on him, he was still mentally crying and broken from what he did to her – what he was and _still_ is powerless to stop, but now in regards to his son."

Luke reflexively moved to grasp and strangle the man responsible for his mother's death, but the locks of the table continued to hold him firmly. "You vile-"

"Tsk tsk tsk," the other mock-rebuked him, wagging his index at him almost playfully. "That is not how you address your master, but we shall soon remedy to your attitude problem, I assure you."

Luke struggled anew against his bonds, but other than wiggle helplessly and exhaust himself further, he didn't accomplish much. He also tried to free himself with the Force, but the locks were definitely Jedi-proof.

"But back to your father, right after I made him choke his lover to death, he still continued to fight the controlling device. His renewed resistance against the collar earned him the cyborg body that he now lives in; his internal struggle rendered him unable to properly fight against Kenobi, a duel that he would have easily won otherwise," Palpatine commented with fake melancoly. "Still, between Anakin's initial attempts to resist the collar and the tests that were later ran on the Jedi he delivered afterward, he unwillingly helped me perfect the technology so that it can now be used safely on you, the last of the Jedi and the first of my new Sith servants. Yes, unfortunately," he added as if saddened, "by the time that this technology was properly adapted to your kind, I had run out of Jedi test subjects and Vader had eradicated all the other remaining survivors; he truly excelled at hunting Jedi, you know?" He taunted the furious boy, leaning closer as if in confidence before he pulled away again. "It has now been more than five years since I could finally use this on a trained Jedi, and at last, you are here and _you_ will be my crowning achievement." He leered at his captive who was still struggling against his bonds. "The last of the Jedi Order will soon be under my complete control; although you will be aware of everything, you will be unable to escape your mental prison. Furthermore, just like your father, you will still mentally care for everyone, but you will never be able to act on it ever again, as you experienced while in Vader's conflicted _care_."

"Never!" Luke snarled at last, having recovered his voice from the horror and disgust that had strangled any sound he made. "I swear on my mother's grave that I will find a way to escape!"

"Like Father, like Son," the Sith shook his head at him in amusement, and then suddenly stood up and viciously grabbed his hair in a tight fist before pulling his head as far back as it could go. "But enough pleasantries. Farewell, young Skywalker. Defeating you was entertaining, but holding you under my control will be delightful. Enjoy your front row seat to my ongoing reign that will become, thanks to you, unchallenged. That is, of course," he added maliciously, "when you will be aware enough to pay _us_ any attention."

Luke truly panicked when one of the medical droids slid the open collar in position. "No! You can't-" He had to fight this off! He had to find a way! He-

He suddenly went limp and inarticulate when the other droid shot him with a paralysing ray, allowing the medic to cut away his cloak from his neck and upper back before positioning his head in a head brace so as to gain perfect access to the nape of his neck. Luke, who was still conscious, then heard the man's surgical instrument clink against the metallic surface of a nearby tray and on the table beside him - and then howled when the medic began slicing into the skin at the nape of his neck and then lower into his upper back. The medic hadn't given him any form of painkiller or analgesic, turning his intervention into yet another cruel torture. The beleaguered youth gritted his teeth and bore the burning sensation as best as he could but with the blade so close to his nerve center, he couldn't help the tears that ran down his cheeks.

His only relief was that face first as he was against the operation table, no one could see the shameful droplets of saline water, not even the Emperor.

When the cutting and slicing was over, he gasped in relief, only to groan in complaint when something rather rigid was inserted in the fresh and searing cut before it was pushed inside his body and deep under his skin and muscles.

Luke felt the warm and sticky sensation of his blood sluicing out of his cut and around his exposed neck, and then he grimaced and half-wailed for as long as the new and most unpleasant torment went on.

For long minutes, the experienced surgeon worked on a microscopic level inside the wound, painfully manipulating the Sith technology into position. Luke felt the collar gradually tighten against his throat and even stick to his blood-stained skin. He also had a pounding headache from the other's intervention near his spinal cord, but nothing prepared him for what happened next.

A scalding pain – worse than anything he had ever felt so far - suddenly blossomed from the back of his neck when the collar was finally turned on, but even _that_ was nothing compared to the agony that unexpectedly blanketed his body, his mind and even his soul.

He then fell into a dark abyss and wasn't aware of anything else anymore.

* * *

On the operation table, the youth keened for long seconds onward before he finally fell silent and merely moaned and cried in completely reflexive physical reaction to the surgeon's delicate micro-manipulations around his spine and into the base of his cranium.

It was strange, Palpatine reflected in clinical interest, how it always seemed more painful for the Force-strong individuals than for the others.

Not that it mattered, he shrugged while he studied yet again his new and ultimate prize. Now that the process was finally safe and perfectly adapted to Force-sensitives, he had been dying to meet this young man and overcome him, mainly because he was as powerful as his father used to be and Palpatine _needed_ that strength for his new plans.

Indeed, he had had so many brilliant plans for the once Force savant, plans that Kenobi's interference had made mostly impossible. With the boy, though, those plans were becoming possible once again, as were others that he had come up with since his rise to power, which was why he was actually impatient to proceed with _this_ new servant. Besides, with Vader almost endlessly on the front line, either killing Jedi or delivering them to him for new tests, he hadn't had the delightful pleasure of truly toying with a Force strong slave for far too long.

And now, at long last, a new Sith age was on the verge of beginning, and the last of the Jedi – as well as the most powerful Jedi ever - was the catalyst that he had been waiting for.

He studied the inert youth once again, and then slowly pulled the sliced cloak completely aside, exposing the boy's strong shoulders and back to his scrutiny. "Once you're finished, fix this as well. When he is ready for initiation, signal me."

Until the intervention was complete, the device would remain visible, but in a day or two, it would be the color of the Jedi's skin and completely disappear from sight, its synthetic flesh merging perfectly with the boy's natural skin tone.

Then, and only then, the collar's control over the boy would be absolute and his master would be able to _initiate_ him into his new life of blind and mindless servitude.

While he granted relative freedom to some of his _elite_ servants such as his scientists, his diplomats, some of his military officers and even Vader - at least now that he had ascertained that he had complete control over him - he would not do so with the young Jedi, or at least not for a long while.

He required him too much for various experiments that would take place in his secluded labs.

Out of curiosity, he glanced up at the medical readouts and noticed that the boy had only received two shots of adrenaline so far to keep him awake during the procedure, which was a requirement for the mind-control technology to completely overcome the subject while it adapted to the individual's pattern of thoughts. Normally, the subjects would have received at least twice as many shots by then, if not more.

Nodding in satisfaction at the child's physical strength, he then took a moment to survey the rest of the boy's biometrics. They pleased him as well and he smiled in delight as he confirmed that he would truly be perfect for _all_ his projects to come.

He couldn't have asked for a better subject to exploit as he saw fit.

Now, he really couldn't wait to begin what he had in mind for him.

* * *

Three days later, Sidious' personal medic called him back in his secret medquarters where he had left the Jedi. After his initial intervention, the boy had, as per his orders, undergone a bacta treatment to heal him from his previous torture. And now, finally, his new slave was ready to begin his active service to him.

As it always was at this stage of the process, the collar had finished merging with the skin of the subject, who was awake but completely unresponsive. When he step into the operation room, the young man was sitting quietly on the edge of the operation table, blankly gazing ahead of him.

Behind him, the monitoring devices bore proof that his tailored personality had been perfectly implanted in his thought-pattern and its reliance, tested through brain scans and the collar itself.

In short, everything was now in place to make the boy obey his every command, and only those.

At least, that was the basic program of the Jedi's collar, with possible editions as time went. For now, though, he would simply keep him close – very close – at hand and give him only minimal autonomy as to his actions and thoughts.

Still, despite his impatience to get started with his new and extremely powerful servant, he also took a moment to relish the despair that he could sense coming from the imprisoned spirit of the Jedi. There was nothing quite like knowing that the other's sweet mental agony was his doing, and that it was going to be the Jedi's only reality from now on.

He only regretted that he hadn't managed to Jedi-proof the technology sooner as he would now own a hundred Jedi instead of two. Now, what a vengeance it would be for his brethren's deaths at the hands of the cursed Jedi order.

But then, he playfully chastised himself, owning the two most powerful Jedi of all times was no small victory either, and thinking of which- "I am your master, slave. Kneel and pledge your allegiance to me."

As soon as the technology of the collar identified the code words and confirmed his voice imprint, the boy, now clad in hospital whites, silently straightened, locked his blank gaze on him, and then slid down from the table on which he had been sitting. He then obediently knelt on one knee before him and respectfully bowed his head, as he should.

"I will serve you, and only you, my Master. Your wish is my command, always and forever."

And the proper answer had been given, confirming to Sidious that the boy's mind was completely under the control of his Sith device.

And now he was under _his_ control.

Smiling in cold satisfaction, he rested his frail right hand over the crown of the boy's head and savoured his ultimate victory over the stubborn and incorruptible Jedi. "Good, child. You and I have much work to do, and I have waited long enough to get started on it. Rise."

"What is your wish, Master?" the youth inquired blandly after he effortlessly obeyed him.

Just like he was supposed to, Palpatine cackled in jubilation. Ah, but now there was so much he could ask the boy, so much that he had been waiting to begin with great anticipation. What should he choose for this first test?

In the end, he chose to test if he would truly be able to tap into the boy's limitless powers like he expected to. "Reach out and make me sense as far as possible within my empire."

* * *

While Luke could witness everything through a _window_ of some kind that allowed him to see what his physical eyes saw, he was also aware of both his body's actions and the mental influxes that governed them – like thoughts that were not his own anymore. However, in spite of that level awareness, he was downright powerless to stop his _other_ self from obeying the Dark Lord of the Sith.

He strained against whatever was keeping him away from his own body and mind, but he couldn't connect with them in any way. Yet, despite his inability to control them in any way, he was also still attached to them, somehow.

He tried yet again to focus the Force on the device that was attached to his neck but, just like every other time that he had tried it, he was also bereft of his Force abilities. Strangely, he could still Feel the Force in his body, could still hear its low hum as it connected him with everything else that existed, but he couldn't use- he abruptly screamed in agony as an indescribably strong '_something_' fastened itself on him and actually suctioned the Force off of _him_ – the Jedi spirit.

Almost right away, though, his energies were replenished by the Force itself, but the horrible sensation of being leeched upon, of the Force literally burning its way through and out of him - instead of merely flowing as usual - didn't disappear.

Worse, it intensified and even reached deeper within his ethereal being while his doppelganger's mind drew more power from him.

The slave, for lack of a better word, was actually using his physical body as a channel for his spiritual Force powers. He had barely figured that out that the other reinforced even further Palpatine's already strong powers by draining him further. Meanwhile, the Emperor was also trying to tap into his Force connection, increasing his spiritual agony tenfolds.

Meanwhile, the slave pushed his _master's_ senses as far and as wide as they could go, pushed even further when they seemed to reach a limit - by the edge of the Inner Rim worlds - and then again when he felt Sidious' spindly hand rest against his forehead to suck in more power for himself.

Through it all, Luke's spirit was caught in unbelievable torture, feeling as if he would soon be completely depleted of even his own energies, and yet even as the Force kept replenishing him, both the Sith and the slave's mind kept siphoning it out of him.

Luke felt as if he was burning alive, every single _cell_ of his ethereal body caught in unbearable agony- and then the suction effect was gone just as suddenly as it had appeared and the Jedi spirit was once again drifting in the cool energies of the Force he was so directly connected with.

Even as he wept at the release of such unforeseen torment, he heard and saw Palpatine chortle victoriously in his face while Luke grew aware that neither his mind nor his body had been affected in the least by what he, the spirit that was at the core of his Jedi abilities, had suffered beyond imagination.

"Indeed, my friend," the Sith commented, addressing his enslaved persona, "we have _much_ to achieve together, and no one will be able to stop us." *Not even you, Jedi," he then sent directly at him, the Sith's cold senses permeated with greed and self-satisfaction.

Luke, who was unable to pass out yet wished he could, remained listless, still unrecovered from his latest challenge. Now he understood what Palpatine had meant when he had mentioned that he might not be aware enough to witness every moment of his new existence.

Even more than before, he had a very bad feeling about all this.

"Come with me," Palpatine ordered next and Luke was barely aware enough to even notice that the slave had silently fallen in step behind his '_master_'.

He was then drifting in and out while Palpatine went back into his secret corridors, his new slave obediently following him. Luke's spirit was simply still reeling from the intense suffering that had burnt through him less than five minutes ago.

On the way to wherever Palpatine was taking the slave, the Sith informed his servant that, when not under specific orders, he was expected to improve his Force skills.

Luke flinched at that, dimly aware that what he had experienced while the slave had been using his Force abilities was but a preview of what would happen more often than not. The other would often, if not _always_ use the Force one way or another.

The problem, though, was that it was not his own ability he'd be using... it would be Luke's... the ability of the Jedi spirit that formed the actual connection between the physical world and the realms and powers of the Force.

Belatedly, Luke remembered that the Emperor had mentioned to him that his father – his true father – was equally trapped within an alternate persona, and that he had been so for twenty one years.

Twenty one years? Luke gaped, completely oblivious to the ongoing actions of the Emperor and his alter ego. Twenty-one years of unceasing _physical_ agony while Anakin was also helpless to stop himself from committing atrocities that sickened even hardened men.

*Father!" he reflexively reached out in sympathy, only to remember that he couldn't use the Force in his new state-

*L... Luke?" someone answered hesitantly, and to Luke's complete shock, he realized that while he couldn't '_use_' the Force in any way that affected his surroundings, his spirit could actually communicate with a fellow Jedi through the Force. Nowadays, the only other Jedi that was alive and held at the edge of the Force's realm was-

*Father!" he sobbed in relief and horror. *Father, I'm here! I'm so sorry - I never knew- are you all right?"

The other spirit remained silent for a long, very long while, and then Luke felt as if the other's eyes were briefly glancing up at him, only to be cast down once again. *Son," he barely whispered, and the young Jedi understood that although still alive and imprisoned like him, his father had long been defeated by the Emperor.

Even without _seeing_ the older spirit, he could tell, from the exhaustion and apathy audible in Anakin's mental voice, that the older man had gone through too many torture sessions, both spiritual and psychological, to be able to muster any further energy than what he had already gathered to answer him.

Steadily, the older Jedi had been grounded into a ghost of even his own spirit and he now merely existed as the spiritual channel that was used by Vader to call on the Force.

Anakin had long since lost any and all hopes of ever escaping this waking nightmare, and Luke could only understand why his father would become so defeated. After all, he had only been leeched upon once and already, he didn't know how long he'd be able to bear such torment.

He could only imagine what twenty-one years of similar torture could do to a soul.

Any soul.

On the physical plane of existence, the turbolift continued its course down and southward toward the Sith's top-secret laboratories of Coruscant.

* * *

TBC

Well? How was that? Did you see 'that' coming? What do you think of this twist with Anakin actually existing if only in a spiritual form inside his body? How did you like the theory about the true source of the Jedi's powers provided by the Force? What do you think will happen next?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like this 'kind' of story, or if it's just not your style of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :) Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	4. Chapter 4

The longest night

By Mireille

02-01-01/2012

* * *

Previously: After being delivered by Vader to the Emperor, Luke found out, rather unpleasantly, how Palpatine managed to control his father and ensure his loyalty. Unlike what anyone ever thought, Vader is the result of a mind-control device that Palpatine used on Anakin Skywalker when the noble youth refused to join him. Worse, Anakin's son also found out that to punish his father for his attempts to resist his spiritual bonds, Palpatine made his father kill his mother. Anakin's last attempt to regain control then resulted in his accident that sealed him in a survival suit. After hearing those revelations, Luke is also submitted to the same Sith technology and turned into the Emperor's latest slave. Once cut off from his body yet still aware of his actions, and horribly tortured whenever the slave called on the Force using his spiritual connection with the power, Luke found out that he could communicate with Anakin, but his father's spirit had long been beaten into a ghost of his former self.

* * *

Good afternoon everyone! First of all, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story's last post! Your comments really meant a lot to me!

Thanks as well for the favorites and alerts. I still hope to one day hear your thoughts in more details :)

* * *

Here is the fourth part of the first of eleven stories that I felt like writing, but couldn't decide which to work on first.

After a whole summer of leaving the choice up to you, my valued readers, The Longuest Night finished 7th. Therefore, while I will still add to this story on few occasions a year (like during vacation times), my focus will be on other stories for now. However, you know how to make me want to add more to this faster, right? ;P

Yup, you got it ;) You have to hit the button at the bottom of this post and do your reader thing :)

Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts :D

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 4: More than crude matter

When the turbolift opened again, it was hundreds of miles below as well as further to the south than its point of origin.

Walking down dreary and foreboding corridors, Palpatine guided his newest servant to the lab where the youth would stay for now. Inside the double-sealed and heavily-secured power doors, his scientific elite servants were, as always, hard at work on some of his most secret projects.

It pleased him.

Unlike his other projects that were known either by his intelligence department, his military assets or the people involved in them throughout the galaxy, the experiments that were run in this particular installation were those that truly mattered to him; they were those that would allow him to turn whoever he needed - including whole planets or systems - into mindless and/or blindly-obedient servants without anyone ever realizing what was happening.

Indeed, the projects of any of his private Coruscant labs didn't concern visible weapons or new technology of war or surveillance progress, but rather altered genetics, undetectable biochemical weapons and even nanotechnology.

Aside from this particular lab that would house his most important project to date, similar labs were hidden in various areas of the planet yet completely ignorant of each other's existence. In each of his private installations, other elite members ran projects that concerned just about anything that struck his curiosity and that didn't fit in the two categories of projects handled by his '_secret-yet-public_' installations.

While he silently ordered his new slave to sit in a waiting exam chair that could be tipped to a completely-horizontal position, he took a moment to survey the work of his numerous one-minded elite servants. Like he expected, they were all diligently if unwillingly making all his wishes come true.

Like the station where he had taken his Jedi, the other stations were also completely enclosed in reinforced transparisteel so that, should an unfortunate explosion occur during their experiments, the damage would be limited to the concerned station.

Yet, for all the unbreakable isolation that existed between the various stations, he could also surmise their progress from wherever he stood in the large laboratory; the monitoring displays that he had set in each individual lab, which showed magnified images of his hard-working slaves, allowed him to gather their current activities at but a glance.

Finally, droid guardians always reported to him on a secure channel if anything was amiss, although it rarely happened. Thanks to the robots, his blindly-devoted servants never forgot to eat or rest at least once a day, and any accidentally destroyed equipment or area was swiftly fixed and/or replaced so that all the projects were never interrupted for long, and certainly not without his direct, face-to-face order.

The only order that the scientists were allowed to obey from someone other than him were those of the surveillance droids as far as their health and/or safety were concerned.

Since the droids' programming didn't go beyond those two concerns, and that the elite members were all under his complete and unrelenting control, there were no unknown variables in his labs, except for the ongoing experiments, of course.

Now, if only the rest of his Empire could already be so as well, his life would be perfect. In regards to that dream, however, there was now a new hope. He smiled sickly when his eyes rested back on the passive form of his newest Jedi servant.

Soon, he encouraged himself. Soon, everything would be '_exactly_' as he had always envisioned.

He turned toward the waiting scientists of the new biological/medical lab. "Prepare him for a prolonged stay in this station, as well as for daily blood draws every late afternoon. Make sure each draw is then compatible with my blood and have it delivered to me with all haste in the evening, around 2000 hours. We start tomorrow."

"How much blood do you require, Master?"

"We'll begin with the normal dose. Ensure his daily recovery from the blood loss. I want him in as good a shape as he is today when I return for him."

"As you wish, Master."

He turned toward his silent and empty-eyed slave and addressed him. The boy looked up, his features as serene and bland as ever. "When they aren't performing tests on you, use the Force to heal and reinforce yourself. Meditate on your perfect health. When you're done, and if you're still left alone, connect with me. Until I say so, do not move from this chair."

"As you wish, Master."

"Good, now except for your mental exercises, remain calm and let them do as they want with you."

While his slave did as he was told, Palpatine turned toward the waiting scientists. "You," he said to an assistant, "cut off his clothes and prepare him for intervention." While the helper bowed his head in obedience, he focused back on the lead scientist. "Once the blood drawing procedure is established, proceed with the other medical tests that I filed in the databank under the name New day. Access code beta-epsilon-gamma-22."

He then left his servants to their various tasks and headed back toward his more public life. However, he took his sweet time leaving his private sanctuary, surveying his slaves' good work on his way out.

Too early for him, it was then time to head toward his throne room. After all, he had an empire to rule.

* * *

In the secret lab, the slave remained impassive while the scientists and their medical counterparts took various samples and performed small surgeries on his body.

Luke, however, witnessed it all and felt outraged, appalled, and horrified by what was being done to his exposed body.

Whereas he had still been slightly groggy from the previous Force-usage when the Emperor had been talking to his scientists, the Jedi was now completely aware of what '_else_' was being done to him, and he shuddered in revulsion.

At least, spiritually speaking.

While the swab of cotton that had been used inside his mouth and against his cheek had not been worrying, or that he understood that he was being plugged into means that would allow his body to survive his forced immobility by seeing to his natural needs such as food and elimination of toxins, the intervention that involved collecting a large sample of his semen was more than worrisome.

He understood all-too-well that the Emperor wanted more Force servants and would use him to create them in-vitro.

The thin slices of skin that were peeled off his right arm were also unnerving, as well as painful, and then there were the permanent catheters attached to both of his arms. One was already leading to an intravenous serum, but the other...

He really had a bad feeling about all this.

Then, he couldn't think anymore as the slave – who was finally left alone in the examination chair – connected with his master like he had been ordered; the pain engulfed Luke's spirit yet again and he could only wait for it to end.

Eventually.

* * *

In the evening, a royal guard brought Palpatine his first dose of his Jedi's Force-strong blood and he hastily set himself up to replace the blood that his medic had just drained from himself.

He relaxed and savoured the effect of the younger cells on his older body, but it quickly became obvious to him that, except for replacing the cells that had been expunged from his frail body, the new blood cells were not increasing his connection with the Force.

He sent orders for his medical servant to double the next sample.

He then went about his evening and following day as it was scheduled, checking on the progress of his other Jedi-related experiments once he had reached his throne room and his exclusive seat. Unlike the failure of the previous evening, those ones were progressing well.

He sent an order to another Force-strong servant to report to her medic for both an exam and minor intervention related to her next mission off world.

Two hours later, his prized Jedi slave established contact with him and Sidious drew on the boy's refreshing powers all day long, using him to stave off hunger, tiredness and even the pain of his aging joints.

When he checked on the beleaguered Jedi spirit, he heard it wail in unceasing agony, but it only satisfied him, aware that it couldn't die unless the physical body died.

Everything was as it should be, and it immensely pleased him.

* * *

Days later, Luke's spirit was feeling weaker than ever. Between his body's blood loss, the Force-induced healings and Palpatine sucking him off to the marrow – or so it felt – he wondered how he could still be aware of every single instant of his latest nightmare, yet there he was.

Now that the scientists had resumed working on his body, doing Force knew what this time, the Jedi spirit was '_finally_' left alone, at least for now.

However, for all his spiritual respite, he was downright unable to even '_sit_' anymore, and he could barely keep his '_eyes_' open to witness what was happening around him.

Yet, for all his debilitating exhaustion, he was illogically unable to fall unconscious.

Not even for a moment.

*How ever do you hold up, Father?" he Sent in reflex.

For long moments, he was alone with his thoughts, his despair, and his lingering suffering. It was all he could do to merely '_exist_' onward.

*S... son?" the voice then came, weaker than even his was, hesitant and even quivering, but it was there all the same.

*Father?" he asked, uncertain that he had '_heard_' right.

*How... how are you holding up?" the unfamiliar voice inquired solliticitously.

*How do you do it?" he asked instead, discouraged and beaten.

*I don't," was the answer. *It just... happens... all the time."

*And we really never fall unconscious from the agony?"

*No... we don't," Anakin sent reluctantly. *I'm sorry."

While Luke had closed his '_eyes_' in resignation upon hearing his father's confirmation, he opened them again and frowned at his apology. Painfully, fighting against the irrepressible need to rest and lay still while he could, he pushed himself to a '_sitting_' position and looked toward his father's presence, feeling that it brought him closer to the other, somehow.

The Force worked in such mysterious ways...

*What are you sorry for? It wasn't-"

*It was," the sorrow-filled voice objected. *I failed to stop Palpatine when I could... I caused Padme's... your mother's... death... and I gave you my Force heritage... and now you're here, too... I'm so sorry..."

*Father," Luke answered with more strength than he actually felt; he reached out an ethereal hand toward the origin of the voice. *It wasn't... Padme?" he paused on one of his father's statements. *My mother was called Padme?"

He had never known anything about her before today.

*Padme Amidala Naberrie; she was elected twice as Queen of the Naboo before she became their galactic senator in the Senate of the Republic."

Luke remained silent yet silently Sent a plea for his father to continue on this topic.

*She had beautiful brown eyes and silky long brown hair, and a petite figure that I just felt compelled to cherish and protect to my last breath...She was small in size, thus shorter than I was - kind of like you - but that only belied the strength she truly possessed, also like for you. She was kind, generous, selfless... passionate. Were she still alive, she would undoubtedly be part of the Alliance's High Command. She always sought to make the galaxy a better place, and never to the detriment of anyone. She was like an angel... she was my angel."

While he had been describing Luke's mother, Anakin unconsciously Sent a mental image of her through the Force and, for the first time ever, the youth saw his mother's features.

He instantly understood why his father had been completely smitten with her from the moment that he had laid eyes on her.

*I always knew that I would marry her someday. I just didn't know about the rule that forbade Jedi from developing attachments with either their own family or someone they were romantically interested in."

While they had been talking about the past, Luke noticed that Anakin's strength seemed to return to his father as well, his voice steadier with each passing moment. His father clearly needed their conversation just as much as he himself was glad to finally learn about his parents' true lives.

*No attachments? But you married her and had me!"

Anakin seemed to chuckle, though the sound was too weak to clearly identify. *That wasn't the first rule I broke while I lived at the temple."

*Did Obi-Wan really train you?"

*Yes. He was like a father to me, and then he became a brother. Unfortunately... I was hard-headed and argued a lot with him... He was right about Palpatine being deceitful... I should have listened to him."

*Yeah, I know what you mean," Luke agreed, subdued as he was reminded of his own foolhardiness and deaf ears in regards to Ben's advices.

*It must be a Skywalker trait," Anakin commented, almost sounding light-hearted.

*What is?" Luke frowned in confusion.

*Giving Obi-Wan grey hairs," the older man quipped sorrowfully, and Luke couldn't help but quirk his lips a little at his father's unexpected humour.

It was also undeniable that talking with him was doing a galaxy of good to his father's spirit, lifting it faster than lightspeed, or so it Felt. '_That_' made Luke smile further in relief and happiness for him.

*Well, the Obi-Wan I knew was already old enough to have nothing but grey hair, so I wouldn't know. However, I'm afraid that I have given him new wrinkles."

*Adding to those that my failure caused him..." Anakin answered in a more sober fashion. *Poor Obi-Wan... I can't even begin to imagine what my alleged betrayal did to him... I saw how dejected he was when he left Vader for dead, but as time went on, and the horrors '_I_' wrought... he must have been completely crushed."

*He was rather downcast and sorrowful, yes. Like you, he believed that he bore the responsibility for all those horrors. I only hope that, now that he is with the Force, he knows the truth. However, when he last appeared to me, he didn't seem to... he was only worried about my facing Vader."

"Perhaps he didn't want to entice you further in facing him, this time in a vain attempt to rescue me..."

Luke remained silent for a moment. *Would it really be vain?"

*Removing the controlling device without proper surgery would be lethal for the body, thus the spirit. As for freeing me from its control while leaving it in place... We'd need him to say the words, which will never happen... I'm afraid that Palpatine holds the whole sabacc deck."

Luke nodded silently. *Still... there must be a way... there is always a way..."

"The last time I thought so and found a way," his father warned him meaningfully, "your mother died at my hands and powers. Don't underestimate the consequences of any resistance, Son."

*I understand, but still-"

He had barely begun to answer that his connection with his father's spirit was abruptly interrupted even as the older spirit began screaming in excruciating agony.

Luke felt sorry for his father, knowing all too well what he was going through right now; he simply prayed the Force to grant Anakin release as soon as possible.

He was then left with his own thoughts while he was still given a reprieve by his own tormentor.

However, unlike the previous days, he had new thoughts to munch on.

First and foremost, he finally knew who his mother had been. In a way, she reminded him of Leia, which led him to playfully wonder if their common characteristics where prerequisites for a young woman to become royalty '_and_' senator.

He laid back and savoured his moment of peace and, for once since the beginning of his nightmare, didn't despair from his inability to escape his mental prison.

Like for his father, though, his reprieve was short-lived and the slave resumed siphoning him up when he yet again connected with his master's mind.

As usual, Palpatine sucked off even more of his power while he gorged himself with it, trying to beat off his body's unnatural aging.

Luke floundered and wailed for long hours on end.

* * *

Once Vader finally put an end to his training session, Anakin Skywalker drew in deep '_breaths_' to try and recover from his latest torture session.

Then, to take his mind off his monopolizing suffering, he thought about his first-ever true conversation with his son.

Who would have thought that the dire circumstances would lead them to meet, at last? Luke was definitely a ray of hope in his otherwise eternal night. In fact, the boy had almost effortlessly brought him out of the torpor that normally filled his existence nowadays, and his questions about his mother had brought back to life memories that had not only done Anakin a galaxy of good mentally speaking, but that had also renewed in him energies that he had thought he'd never recover ever again.

And all that had happened throughout their first real conversation as their true selves instead of through his Rebel-affiliated son and the artificial persona of Vader that Luke had sadly learnt to associate with any mental image of his father.

And now, his strong-willed son might be right that there was hope for them to somehow escape, but for now, he wouldn't act on it in any way. He would '_not_' provoke any other negative consequence with an action that the Emperor would Feel.

Instead, he would wait, make efforts to remain aware once again whenever possible, and hopefully, the answer would eventually come to him.

He simply trusted the Force to help him and Luke in that endeavor. After all, it had brought them together; it couldn't possibly abandon them forever to such an horrible fate.

However, when he tried to establish contact again with Luke, the youth's spiritual pain blocked him from his presence.

It was his son's turn to be used as a mere Force-channel.

Anakin Sent him all the support and encouragement that he could once again gather.

Then Vader resumed using the Force and Anakin was also shoved back in the flames of eternal torment.

* * *

A month after the arrival of his Jedi slave to the secret labs, Darth Sidious reluctantly conceded defeat in his plan to use the youth's blood to boost his own powers.

No matter the importance of the transfusion, the power he was so hungry for was not to be found in the life-giving red liquid.

The more he was taking off the boy, too, the weaker the youth was growing, and the less he was available to strengthen him in the only way that worked so far.

Still, if plan B didn't work, there was always plan C.

Palpatine stepped into his Jedi's specially-assigned monitoring room and stepped up to the recovering youth. The last blood draws had taken a toll on him so that even with injections of iron and other nutrients to fortify him, the boy was almost as pale as the plain sheets that covered his naked body.

For a moment, he studied his servant, surveying first the statistics of his vital signs, and then the tubes that ran from the boy's secured right arm and hand to various medical devices that were designed to keep him stable and in good physical conditions. His eyes then glanced at the other sensors that were meant to collect all forms of biochemical data that would be useful for his other projects.

Everything else was proceeding as he had foreseen, he concluded yet his frustration about his failure of plan B was not lessening. Being able to tap into his Jedi's powers when he wished was what he had planned for, but he also wanted to own that power in a more permanent fashion, hence his failed plan B, and now his plan C while waiting for the beginning of plan D.

By the time that his ochre gaze rested on the boy's face, the Jedi's empty blue eyes were locked on him, waiting for his command just like he was supposed to. He noticed that his orbits were somewhat sunken, the skin under them darkened by lack of sufficient rest while his features simply looked gaunt.

He silently stepped up to the side of his slave's head and rested his hand on the other's temple. "Reach out toward me and keep the connection open, no matter what."

"As you wish, Master," the boy answered- and then stiffened in physical pain when Sidious lunged toward him with his Force senses and drilled his way into the boy's unshielded mind. He then proceeded to fuse their two minds together via a string of sort, a bond through which he would be able to draw at will from the Jedi's Force-connection, even with the barest of concentration.

The mental fusion of their presence proved to be excruciating for the weakened youth yet he still maintained their bond, as per orders, and even provided the '_links_' that his master asked for while he strengthened the ends of the bond.

When Sidious let go of him, the boy gasped and moaned, bringing his free hand to his head in a reflexive attempt to alleviate his pain.

Palpatine allowed him that slight freedom while he surveyed the rest of him. "You are not done here yet. Until your last probe is disconnected, Send me your strength."

"As you wish, Master," the youth bowed even as he instantly began obeying him.

Palpatine sighed in contentment as the other's extra input of Force power filled his mind with greater potential. He dwelled deeper into his connection to the power he commanded and Reached out, checking on his servants' various projects.

When he was satisfied that everyone in his various labs was working as hard and as fast as they could, he left new orders to the head scientist assigned to his Jedi's tests, and then he headed back toward his private turbolift.

He had much planning to do.

* * *

A week later, though the passing time had felt like a new eternity to Luke, the last of the probes was finally disconnected from the slave and he stopped Sending his strength to Palpatine.

Luke had long since stopped making any noise even though he had been in indescribable throes of agony. It had just become pointless after a whole day of screaming.

Thus, when he was finally let off the '_hook_', he simply slumped further on whatever '_floor_' he rested on, his muscles unable to strain in any way while his awareness teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.

Still, just like his father had said, he was unable to finally tumble over the edge and into blissful darkness.

Hence, he was aware, if barely so, when a medic came in the slave's room and ordered him to follow him to a holding cell that had been set up nearby.

Luke understood that, now that his body had recovered his physical strength, they deemed him ready for another battery of tests.

This time, they would be physically painful, too.

Luke cringed despite himself when he recognized the set up of the cell that awaited the slave: it was a detention cell/torture room.

He couldn't believe what he was witnessing when the slave simply waited for his new overseer to lock him into holding bonds before he lifted his naked body off the deck until his weight pulled entirely on the joints of his arms and his shoulders.

The slave wasn't the only one in pain, though; as if the spiritual torture didn't suffice, his imprisonment also proved painful whenever the slave was physically hurt. Apparently, even though the spirit was disconnected from the body, the opposite wasn't true.

Luke barely groaned in despair.

The master torturer then injected his body with micro-sensors that instantly began relaying information into a monitoring system. The green light shone above the sealed door and the new '_test_' began.

While the slave didn't question anything his master ordered, Luke really wondered what Palpatine was hoping to accomplish by hurting his body this much?

Both the slave and the spirit screamed in unison for long days and nights on end.

Then, it became even worse for the Jedi when the slave began drawing on the Force to sustain himself against the slow debilitation of his body.

And so it went.

* * *

When Anakin finally managed to contact his son once again, he found him in a complete state of despair and defeat. The boy was huddled on the '_floor_', hugging himself and staring at the emptiness of the void that surrounded him.

Or so he Saw in the boy's mind.

*Luke," he said and wished that he could hold him- and all of a sudden, he was there, right beside the boy's spirit and able to touch him.

Hesitantly, almost afraid that it was a hallucination, he extended his hand toward the shivering youth- and started when he made contact with the flesh of his flesh, so to speak.

*Luke," he said again while he swiftly pulled the youth up from the floor and gathered him into his weakened arms. *Luke, what happened?.. What... did he do to hurt you like this..."

*More tests... Father... Help me," he moaned pleadingly.

*What tests? What is he doing?"

Luke remained silent for a few moments, merely shaking his head against his father's chest- and then he sobbed. *He's torturing '_him_'. Forcing him to go to his limits, and beyond... and he draws on the Force, on me... I feel both torments... and it creates a third... worse than... I can't... please?.."

Although his detention time had hardened Anakin in regards to anything the evil Sith master could devise in terms of unspeakable horrors, he still swore in vicious hutteese upon hearing what the other was putting his son through.

*Language, Dad," Luke replied with the ghost of a smile, and Anakin stilled when he registered the boy's chosen address for him. *Sorry, Father. I didn't mean..."

*No, don't worry... I love it, Luke. I just never thought that I'd ever hear anyone address me as such after..." He held him more tightly against his chest, seeking to give him some of his spiritual strength, which the boy had rejuvenated in him. *Is this kind of test over?"

*Dunno... Last I saw and heard, the slave had excelled against the pain, the ensuing challenge of physical strength, endurance and resistance, and against the extreme weather conditions. His usage of the Force was also beyond limits... Go figure why," Luke quipped grimly. *They were talking about preparing him for Force-less tests, I think."

Which meant that although he wouldn't be leeched upon, his son would still hurt again while his doppelganger went through it all again.

*Why is he doing this to him... me?" the youth asked, his voice broken with remnants of pain. *Why?"

*I don't know, Son. I'm sorry. He never did any of that to Vader... but then, he was horribly mutilated after his duel against Obi-Wan on Mustafar."

*If I wasn't in bacta right now, I'd think he wants to do the same to me... but in a slower way."

Anakin held him onward, rocking him slightly in silent comfort.

A while later, Luke raised his head and stared silently at him. Slowly, a frown formed on the boy's forehead, furrowing his brows closer to one another.

*What is it?" Anakin inquired quietly.

*You're here... you're really here?.. How?.."

Ani gently stroke his son's hair before he answered him. *Yes, I'm really here. As to how it happened, I just wished that I could hold you while visualizing it, and here I was, right beside you."

*Kinda like how we visualize as we call on the Force... Interesting." Luke gathered some of his strength and pushed himself a little straighter. "I guess we do have powers here, too... We only have to figure them out."

It was Ani's turn to scowl in confusion. *You speak as if someone told you that we '_do_' have powers in the first place."

His son nodded quietly. *I know it will sound crazy... but... the Force told me, sorta."

*The Force?"

*It showed me how Palpatine created those leaches, and why it was so very agonizing for us. It's because a Jedi's spirit, mind and body are meant to be one in life. By separating our mind and body from our spirit, the collar breaks our natural unity; the spirit's blocked attempts to reconnect with its other parts, and vice versa, are what hurts so much whenever we are used as mere Force vessels. The Force then Said, or rather... well... Sent, though it was more like a Feeling than actual words... Anyway, it '_said_' that although we were trapped in between the physical and the spiritual dimensions, we were also at both our most helpless, and our most powerful while in this state. I guess you accidentally stumbled on one of our unsuspected powers."

*I guess. However, I wonder what those other powers could be... they sure never revealed themselves to me in the decades I was stuck here."

*Perhaps that's the point; it wasn't time for those discoveries yet. That being said, we have to run tests on our own to figure them out. Otherwise, they will undoubtedly remain hidden from us."

While Anakin's first, hard-learnt reflex was to avoid any risk of ever upsetting the Sith master again and cause another horror because of his actions, the hope of finally finding a way out of his waking nightmare was stronger than even his dread of Palpatine's wratj.

*We'll have to be extremely careful, though. If Sidious Senses that we are not under his control, he will simply reassert his supremacy over our bodies by making us perform an act so evil that it will be branded in our spirit's eye forever."

*And that is only '_when_' we will have some time to ourselves '_and_' be recovered enough to attempt anything," Luke pointed out knowingly. "That will take a while... so I think that we won't have to worry about him until we actually find something. We'll discuss a plan then, but not before."

*Okay. Speaking of plans, what else has Palpatine done to your body?"

*Well, he used me for blood transfusions to boost his powers, but it didn't work. For the rest... I don't know what the samples were for."

*What samples did they take?"

*The first layers of my skin, and they swabbed the inside of my left cheek... They also took all kinds of biometric readings, and..."

Anakin felt his son's unease rattle deep within the boy's spirit, practically making the boy sick to the stomach he didn't have control of anymore. *What is it, Luke?"

*They... they collected my semen... right from the source. I think they took everything there was and repeated the procedure every week... I know what '_that_' is for."

While Anakin shared his son's disgust about what the Sith was planning to do with the boy's seed, he was even more distraught by what Luke had revealed first. *Then the other samples are for cloning purposes. I should have known..."

Luke balked in horror. *Clones? As in..."

*The clones that fought in the clone wars, yes. Palpatine has a collection of personal cloning cylinders that serve for his own needs. He had never extended that technology to anyone else before, but I think that he has decided not to '_waste_' the last of the Jedi."

*Great... as if the situation wasn't awful already."

*I'm sorry, Son. I could be wrong, but... I am beginning to know the animal and this seems the most-likely plan from his part."

The two Jedi remained sullen for a moment, both lost in their thoughts of the implications of such a grim discovery.

*We'll stop him, Son," the older spirit finally commented- and then dissipated even as Luke's spiritual pain resumed when Palpatine used him to yet again augment his own powers even though the slave was still in bacta and unconscious.

Anakin, for his part, knelt where he had just been with his son, except that he was once again alone, as well as back in his own spiritual space.

For a long moment, he couldn't understand what had just happened to suddenly shove him out of what he gathered had been Luke's spiritual prison cell. It just didn't make sense. If he had been able to be with him with but a thought, then why had he left without even one?..

Then, he remembered what his son had said about the conditions that seemed to be required for them to use their powers and he came up with the theory that whenever Luke's Force was drawn from him yet again – hence from Luke's spirit – his son's pain forced him out and back into his own cell.

In a way, it made sense because they could only contact each other when neither were in agony, but at the same time, it upset him that their first meeting ever had been cut so very short.

It also pained him to think of his son being yet again in torment.

Before he could attempt anything to help him like he had done when he had visited him, it was his turn to fall back under the pall of his torturer as Vader called on the Force to choke yet another underling.

* * *

It had been an extra two months since Palpatine had last visited his tormented slave, avidly reading the reports of the daily readings that were transmitted from the microsensors that he carried within him. He had been careful that his Jedi would never associate him with the punishment that he was put through.

After all, although thoughtless and will-less, his slave was still a living being with reflexes that even Sidious might not be fast enough to stop. In a way, that made the powerful youth was more dangerous as a merely tamed slave than a free-willed enemy, but only if exposed to certain stimuli.

Sidious was extra careful never to become that stimulus.

While he read the last report of the boy's last exercises to pit his physical strength against loads and pulls even though he had been physically weakened by blood loss and grave injuries, Palpatine exposed his dirty teeth in a most-satisfied grin. The boy was a most-reliable and able servant.

Indeed, even when badly mauled, physically debilitated, and cut off from the Force, he had maintained almost identical scores to any healthy soldier of his elite squads, or even to his own that had been calculated from the previous tests before he had been transferred to a monitoring room during the blood withdrawals.

As for his scores when he could use the Force, they were beyond anything Sidious had ever seen even in the boy's father – who was a formidable strength of nature even when crippled.

Hence, now that the preliminaries were complete, it was time to use the boy's Force talents in his other experiments.

It was time to put the theory to the test.

With that settled, he reached for the bond between him and the boy and sucked in more Force through him, using the pure energies to refresh his tired and aching body.

Before long, it would be time to take on a new body. He knew it.

He just wanted to postpone for a little longer so that the first clones of the Jedi were ready for his transmigration.

He sent orders to strengthen his Jedi slave while hastening his recovery. He couldn't wait to take further advantage of the boy's limitless potential.

While in contact with him, he also perused his thoughts for any Rebel secret that he hadn't found yet. There weren't any, as he had been most thorough the first day that he had established his bond with the boy.

Therefore, he could only wait for his slave to be recovered from his latest test, and for his own new body to be ready for transmigration.

He also expected Vader to soon locate the gathering Rebel fleet.

* * *

While down in the lab, the slave did as he was ordered and focused his powers on the embryos that were in vats located on the other side of the reinforced monitoring glass, at the edge of the Force's realm, Luke thrashed and writhed silently, caught as usual in impossible torment.

This time, the slave had been commanded to use the Force to hasten the growth of the future Sith apprentices, using the greater knowledge that Palpatine had gathered within the Force to speed up every single genetic and biological process that kicked-off and stopped the various steps of developments of human embryos. Since it was a long process and slow process, the '_work_' session lasted several days on end.

It felt like two eternities to the beleaguered spirit and he almost - almost - thanked Palpatine when the despot walked in and interrupted the procedure. While the slave stood up from his sitting position and followed his master into another part of the secret lab, Luke laid flat on the '_floor_', allowing its cold surface to cool him down after feeling as if he had been burning alive forever.

He was still gasping for breath and quivering at the release of the cruel suction-like effect when he became aware of Palpatine's words; he froze in horror.

The slave was facing a row of fully-grown and awake clones of himself. While most of them had been deprived of a mind, turning them into blank slates, three of them were copies of who he used to be as a free man. Two of them were held in unbreakable bonds and under tight guard.

The last one, though, was standing at ease, his gaze as blank as the slave's.

Luke understood that the last clone was also controlled by a Sith collar.

*Find his Jedi spirit and eradicate it, but without killing the body and mind," Sidious commanded.

The slave naturally obeyed, much to Luke's resumed agony and horror.

His torment was then compounded when Palpatine piggy-backed on his slave's manipulation, taking note of the procedure in case it was successful.

Through the double link that was thus established with the imprisoned mind and artificial spirit of the clone, Luke almost felt like he was within his own mental confines, tearing himself apart while fighting to resist himself.

It was a most disconcerting experience that left him in even greater mental distress, even long after the experience became a failure and that the real slave was ordered to stand at ease once again.

* * *

While his original slave passively waited for his new command, Palpatine crouched down and carefully studied the dead clone. The medics had taken all the required readings to create a holographic simulation of what had finally happened in the clone's body after almost sixteen hours of mental attack, but he already knew the answer.

Just like it had been with every other Jedi spirit that he had ever tried to eliminate from the equation, the moment that the spirit had died, so had the body and mind.

Not even Skywalker's unique strength and endurance had saved him from such a fate ; it had only delayed it somewhat.

Still, he would try it again with one of the other free-minded clones, just to be certain before he gave up on that plan as well.

Most important of all, he did not want to endanger the Force-enhancer and absolutely perfect servant that he had finally acquired.

"Prepare another Jedi for further testing. Put the others in stasis, but arrange for the remaining Jedi and one blank slate to be available at a moment's notice."

"As you wish, Master," the medics bowed obediently.

Palpatine turned toward his other waiting servant. "Come with me."

The slave naturally followed.

Sidious guided him into another room where a comfortable bed and chairs were waiting for them. He carefully laid on the bed while he sat the boy near the bed, and then latched on his servant's left hand and clutched it tightly. "Make me healthy once again," he ordered him even as he Reached out and strengthened his own powers to add to his slave's.

Within the Jedi's mind, a certain Jedi spirit was once again caught in unbearable torment that felt like dying in the worst possible way, while in fact, remaining alive.

This time, it lasted all night long.

* * *

Aboard Executor, Vader was in a meeting with his generals, which meant that he was not using the Force.

In short, it was the perfect moment for a once again rested Anakin to try and find at least one of his unknown powers while he was still in limbo.

As Luke had predicted, it had been a while since he had last been up to the task as Vader had led several battles from the cockpit of his TIE fighter. While the Jedi had felt unrest in the Sith's mind, some of his concerns directed at the boy that he had discovered to be his son, his devotion to Palpatine was still absolute and kept him from doing more than wondering how the child was doing.

That concern had also not stopped him from doing the Sith's bidding, using Luke's newly-acquired intel to root out Rebel base after Rebel base.

Anakin hadn't had the heart to mention that to Luke, aware that the boy was tormented enough with the knowledge that all his secrets had been simply plucked from his beleaguered mind. He didn't need to know that Vader was already acting on the secrets that had been stolen from him.

He certainly didn't need to know that Vader was using the information to kill the Rebellion a little bit every day.

When Anakin wasn't busy recovering from his latest rounds of spiritual torture, he was downcast for both himself and his son in light of the recent battles out there.

Today, the third day in a row, Vader was still merely living and commanding his troops without calling on the Force to accomplish his duties.

Since it always took at least one day for Anakin to recover from any abuse, and an extra day to do so from a lengthy Force usage, it was finally his first opportunity to attempt anything.

He resolved not to waste it.

Focusing his mind just like he had when he had found himself with Luke, he envisioned what he thought might be possible in this intermediary place. When he tried Reaching out, however, nothing happened.

Ditto when he tried breaking free. Or when he tried using his telekinesis.

At a loss for ideas, he sighed and crossed his arms, and then fell more than lowered himself in a meditation position and stared at the void that surrounded him.

The Force had said that they could be most powerful while in close proximity to it. What had it meant? Surely it hadn't lied, and yet, why remain so cryptic when they so desperately needed answers?..

He tried to let the answers come to him, but he felt as powerless as ever.

After long hours, and still no result to reward his efforts, Anakin grew impatient and tried reaching his son. To his surprise, he instantly found himself in Luke's spiritual prison as the boy wasn't being used at that moment.

He found him laying on his back, his limbs splayed haphazardly while his breath was limited to gasps and rasps. The Force session had ended not long ago, he surmised.

He quickly stepped closer to the boy and knelt by his side.

It hurt him so much to see him like this, all too aware of what he was going through and how he felt whenever it happened. He should have been able to save him from this nightmare... He should have-

The fabric of the void suddenly seemed to shiver around them even as Luke tensed in renewed torment, and before Anakin found himself ejected, he enveloped his son's spiritual entity with his own and wished them both back into his own prison.

He then felt the flutter in his '_being_' that informed him that he had made the transition back into his own prison cell even as Luke's pain had thrown him out of his son's.

*Father," Luke's voice called and Anakin's eyes snapped open in shock before he looked down at the spiritual body that he was still covering with his own.

He leaned back on his haunches and stared in confusion and bewilderment at the boy who was still gasping for breath but didn't appear to be in atrocious pain anymore. What?.. Where?..

He quickly tried to return to Luke's '_space_' but found himself blocked. It could only mean that they were both in his space.

But how-

*Father, where are we?" Luke asked as he pushed himself slowly to his elbows.

Ani refocused his attention on him. *Do you feel anything different?" he asked him in concern.

*I don't feel much pain even though I '_know_' that the slave is using the Force right now. How can that be?"

Anakin slowly shook his head, at a loss for words as well.

*I also don't ache nearly as much as I did just moments ago..." Luke looked around himself some more. "*Are we in '_your_' mind, or... wherever we are kept anyway?"

*I think so, yes. And you say that the slave is using the Force right now, and that you don't hurt from it while he doesn't know that you're not '_there_'?"

*Yes. It's like a dull ache in the back of my mind, but more than bearable compared to... you know, the usual," he concluded, waving his hand in vagueness. *What happened?"

*I was with you when the slave began using you again... and I covered you and wished that I could bring you with me. And then, we were here."

*Together... in your body... I hadn't thought of that one."

*Have you been searching for the new powers as well?"

*I didn't have time to really test them, but I spent some time thinking about what they could be. I never thought of that one."

*And you felt better almost as soon as we arrived, I noticed. How are you feeling now?"

Luke leaned further up until he could sit up. He then gingerly shifted his '_muscles_' and sighed in relief. *It's as if I already had a day of rest, which is a rare occurrence these days for me."

*Interesting, most interesting," Ani commented, rubbing his hand along his square jaw. *This is definitely one of the greater powers that we have to master. Let's recapitulate how we managed this one."

*I'm listening," Luke nudged him, implicitly reminding him that he hadn't done anything to help.

*Right, well, we were together in your mind and, the moment that I saw you tense up again, I... envisioned us together in my space... safe from torment."

*Hmmm, so I guess that the trick is for us to be together first, and then the moment that the slave starts using us, we find refuge in the other's prison."

*As long as the other slave is not also calling on the Force at the exact same time..." Anakin concluded, feeling glum while he realized how slim the odds were for that kind of combination to happen.

*The Force will really have to be with us on that one," Luke agreed, equally subdued and yet, his senses shone with a new hope. *The benefits of even one such visit are tremendous, though. I already feel like experimenting some more while we can."

Anakin shook himself out of his negative thoughts and pulled them both to their feet. "You're right. Let's not waste this opportunity."

*Can you feel how-"

Anakin never found out what his son was referring to as his own tormentor latched onto him. He and Luke instantly tried to carry them into Luke's '_space_', but the other slave was still using the Force as well.

Both Jedi spirits ended up in their respective cells '_and_' in agony.

Yet again.

* * *

That day was both a bad and good day as far as Palpatine was concerned.

It was the day that his current body was giving up on him, but it was also the day when he would finally try on his new body.

His Skywalker body.

While the boy had been busy in the labs, obediently hastening the growth of his future Sith servants - the first of many to come - the Jedi had also helped him push back the inevitable every time that he had latched on him.

Today, though, even that technique had become useless.

He went down to his labs and straight into the transition room where his new body was being prepped as per protocol. His slave was also there, obediently waiting to do his bidding.

Palpatine gratefully sat in the plush throne chair that had been prepared for him and took a moment to catch his breath. His limbs were already trembling from the distance that he had covered from his residence to the labs, and his heart rate was out of control. It was time, indeed.

"When I signal you, surround my presence and keep it from dissipating as I bring it into my new body. Do not let go until I signal you again."

"As you wish, Master."

Satisfied that his will-less Jedi servant would not put him into any danger while he was at his most vulnerable, Palpatine remained alone with the youth and initiated the first phase of his transition.

He killed himself.

Then, while he gathered his malevolent essence and pulled it out of his dying body, he Sent a signal to his slave who instantly enveloped him in an impenetrable layer of energy that allowed nothing in or out.

Meanwhile, Palpatine directed himself toward the unfamiliar clone body and quickly settled in, locking his presence where the clone's unconscious mind and spirit had been before that moment.

His servant maintained his hold on him.

He Signalled him to let him go, and then opened his eyes.

They instantly turned from icy blue to yellow, proving the success of the transmigration.

Chortling in jubilation, he sat up, delighting in the clone's strong body – stronger than even his own young clones – and took a moment to adjust to the physical changes.

He eagerly stood to his new feet and tested himself further. What great accomplishments he would perform with this new physical envelope; he smiled evilly while he envisioned everything that even his former clone body could only dream of.

He was about to call the medics back in when a cramp suddenly formed in his chest – and he literally folded over himself at the sharp pain that unexpectedly filled him.

"Quick, find out what's wrong with this body," he ordered the waiting slave even as he did his best to breathe slowly.

"It is rejecting the fusion, Master. The clash between the Light and the Darkness is too intense."

Palpatine gasped again even as he felt as if he were about to throw up, although it was his spirit that the body was trying to eject and not any food.

"Gah!" he enraged at this new failure to acquire both a stronger body and a limitless Force-channel. "Tell them to bring in a blank slate right away."

The boy instantly activated the wall's comlink and transmitted his order.

"Help me remain in here until the other clone arrives."

Again, his servant blindly obeyed, Reaching out and locking his presence into place, much to the body's displeasure. The pain only increased and spread to his back and heart as if the body itself was determined to make it so unpleasant for him in there that he would willingly leave its confines.

The slave's help staved off the disaster-in-the-making so that Palpatine survived just long enough to hop from the fighting body to a completely inert one.

The moment that he was out of the now-aware Jedi, he ordered his slave to kill the Jedi clone, and then took stock of the situation. This time, he patiently waited for more than twenty minute before he actually tried anything with his new body.

During that time, he at least enjoyed watching his newest servant fight for the first time since he had brought him into service. Even without a lightsaber, as Palpatine would not allow any weapon near him during his times of transitions, the original Jedi wiped the floor with his copy, throwing him into the nearby walls until the other could barely remain conscious anymore. Then, he strangled him a-la-Vader, yet through it all, the servant remain completely serene, swathed in the Light side of the Force because he didn't '_feel_' anything for anyone or even thought in any way.

He merely acted so as to reach his goal.

While that display of Light stirred a feeling of sickness in his new stomach, Sidious knew that he had to tolerate it as it was the key to his repeated healing sessions as well as the success of other similar projects.

The Dark Side could only accomplish so much where experiences with Life were concerned, and anyway, he already had Vader for that, not to mention himself. Owning an uncorrupted Jedi could also serve him, as proven already.

He finally stood to his feet and walked up to the dead clone. "Have it removed and resume your station in the nursery. I want the children to continue growing faster than normal once they are '_born_'."

"As you wish, Master."

The slave bowed deeply in respect and remained so until his master had left the room.

On his way back to the surface and his more mundane life, Palpatine, now wearing Luke Skywalker's body and features, carefully tested his new body.

To his disappointment, what he had hoped would boost his own powers was once again a failure. Even though he was '_in_' young Skywalker's body, his heart pumping the Jedi's blood and the boy's brain connected to Sidious' sixth sense, it was still not enough.

The Sith Master still remained the powerful, yet-not-most-powerful Force user that he normally was.

Before he had reached his chosen stage of appearance as the victorious hero that had '_defeated_' Palpatine in a lightsaber duel, at least five servants of various level of importance to him paid with their lives for that new failure.

He then decided to torment the Jedi's spirit for that as well and latched upon him with a vengeance, using every trick he knew of to drain him as completely as he could.

This time, when he finally heard the other's mental voice that shrieked in distress, he revelled in it.

* * *

When Luke was finally able to form a coherent thought, he didn't know how much time had passed. The only thing he remembered was that when the slave hadn't been '_working_' on the newly-born children, speeding up their growth as per his orders, he was keeping the Emperor from aging at all, which now took twice as long as usually.

Hence, it was his first moment of respite in Force-knew-how-long and he could only '_breathe_' in and out, trying not to gasp while he did so. He didn't have any strength left to lift a single '_finger_'. It was the worst that he had ever felt, as if he were in tatters although he was still rather '_solid_' as far as spirits went.

A while later, he finally wondered how his father was doing and belatedly remembered what they had figured out when they had last been together.

Doing his best to focus his thoughts, he envisioned himself with his father, felt a flutter of some sort surround him, and then strength suddenly poured back into him even as he heard a gasp that wasn't his own.

*Luke, finally! I was really beginning to worry that we would never see each other again." The older spirit rushed to his side and helped him up to a sitting position.

*Yeah, you and I both... when I finally had the strength to think that much, that is." Feeling stronger with each passing moment spent in his father's '_space_', the youth managed to remain in a sitting position and brought his hands to his aching head. *Palpatine is wearing my features now. If we ever get out of here, no one will ever believe anything I say about what really happened."

*That makes two of us, then," Anakin nodded glumly.

*Still, on the upside," Luke commented next, *it didn't gain him anything except my body. He wanted to tap further into my physical tuning to the Force, but it didn't work. The Light of even a mere clone rejected him, and quite violently, too."

*Thank the Force for small miracles," his father agreed, brushing his sweat-strung hair with his right hand. *What happened after the clone's rejection?"

*The slave killed the clone bare-handed. If not for his blank mind, he would be a Sith by now, but since he is still not allowed any emotions or thoughts of his own, he is not corrupted in any way." A portent silence hung between them. *What about you? Have you had time to explore further?"

*To no avail." His dad nodded, clearly disappointed. *I think we need to be together to find anything new."

*Figures... Okay, then let's get to it before Vader uses you again and throws me out."

Luke stood to his feet and helped his father up.

*Where do you want to start?"

*Huh, how about a way out? Maybe, by probing together..."

They stood side by side and leaned their '_hands_' against the surrounding '_wall_' and pushed with the Force. Nothing happened.

Slowly, methodically, they slid their Push downward, shifted sideways when they met the '_floor_', moved up again, and so on and so forth for as long as they '_felt_' a '_wall_' against their '_hands_'.

Unfortunately, they didn't find anything and Vader soon interrupted their efforts yet again.

The moment that they felt the tell-tale shudder of an incoming suction, both Jedi focused on retreating into Luke's 'space', but the slave was already using the Force on that other end.

They were yet again separated and thrown into the flames of spiritual torment.

* * *

While he basked in his slave's rejuvenating energies, Darth Sidious, now a perfect copy of one Luke Skywalker, ex-Rebel turned Sith Lord that had claimed the throne for himself, watched over his first brood of future Sith servants. His slave worked really well, he surmised while he took in the progress that the six infants had made in less than three months. They were already toddlers and were beginning to speak in short words.

The nanny droids that were assigned to them saw to their every physical needs while they had already begun their imperial education thanks to the numerous screens that covered their quarters, constantly exposing them to images and statements of the values and beliefs of the life that awaited them.

They had also learnt, from his daily visits in their quarters, to identify him as their father-figure yet were not allowed to step anywhere near him; distance, he had learnt, was everything when moulding a slave's mind. They were only allowed to look at him, and to answer his mental probes whenever he teased and Pinched their Force-sensitivity until it arose.

Another month, he surmised, and they would be ready to begin training with him and their true genitor. He couldn't wait for that next phase to begin; he couldn't wait to have an army of Sith Force-strong servants to rely on.

His team of hands were already a success and served him well, but they were all so very limited... Some were so per lack of potential, and others, like his best hand, were limited by him so that they could never challenge him.

Those new children, though, who were born of his slave and his best hand, would truly be an extension of his will, which he was already implanting into them. They would be his servants and he would be their god; they would venerate him, serving him without doubt, resistance, or any ambition other than to do his bidding.

They would never, ever, abide by the rule of the Sith that the apprentice would, one day, become the master. They would not know of it, and if they ever learnt of it, they would be appalled by such possibility.

After all, he would be their reason to live, the reason why they were Force-strong, and the origin of all their thoughts and emotions. Even more than with his hands, he would be the center of their galaxy and the core of their identity.

In a way, they would be like him, but without his ambitions, of course.

He Reached out and touched a first mind, that of a female infant, and proceeded with her mental education, implanting further knowledge into her pliable mind.

So far, none of the children had made use of any of the levitation techniques that he had taught them that way, but perhaps this new visit would bear results.

So went his evening with his Sith brood that had already learnt to call him master.

Beside him, his Jedi slave continued to rejuvenate each and every cell of his young body, kneeling quietly at his master's side while he did so.

In short, everything was as he willed it, and it greatly satisfied him.

* * *

The next time that Luke was left alone long enough to be aware that he wasn't in pain anymore, the slave was following his master into an unfamiliar room adjoining a hangar.

Still laying flat on his stomach and focusing only on his rasping breath, Luke absentmindedly watched the ongoing events.

He then almost recoiled in horror when he became aware that someone else was with them in the room. That other person, a frail-looking man who appeared to have come straight from the dungeons of the palace, was secured in a technology-surrounded chair and wired into a very unfamiliar machine that looked like a cross between biology and technology.

The Emperor then motioned to a side wall; the slave turned toward it and Luke gaped at the sight of a new model of TIE fighter. He instantly noticed that they didn't have a cockpit!

The slave turned back toward the prisoner, who was struggling against his bonds and the wires plugged into him. Although he knew that he should try and join his father in Anakin's space, a feeling of impending doom led him to gather his resolve and remain in his own space.

He '_had_' to know what abomination the fiend was planning next.

Meanwhile, the slave obediently sat in another chair and wires were plugged into him as well. The medic then injected him with microsensors and the readings of his vital signs appeared on a nearby screen.

"Pull his mind into you. The machine will catch it and do the rest."

Despite his utter disbelief at what was about to happen and his valiant efforts to try and stop '_that_' from happening, Luke could only flounder slightly when he tried to push himself up, and then the slave called on the Force yet again and he lost yet another battle.

This time, though, the presence – even temporary – of another soul within his physical body, compounded his spiritual agony and he almost – almost – passed out from it all. The slave also suffered from the unnatural activity and screamed in complaint.

When the slave released the Jedi's spirit and that the techs confirmed the activation of one of their fighter, Luke would have been sick – had he been able to.

Fortunately for him, though, the slave reacted for him and threw up even as his vital signs peaked once again.

That experience had not gone well for either of them.

* * *

That didn't please Sidious. While he knew that the Jedi spirit would survive no matter what, the physical body was another matter altogether.

"Remove him from the tech and stabilize him. Bring me one of his units."

While he had known that the tech he had pilfered from the Sii-Ruuk was most unpleasant for humans, he hadn't thought that the device that had been devised for his slave would be as well. Granted, similar solutions were used to turn both bodies into energy conveyors, but the rest of the procedure had been meant to only catch the extra spirit and direct it into the device that completed the entechment procedure.

His Jedi slave should have been safe from the agony that the victim felt.

Yet, when the two spirits had met, the victim's had apparently shared his pain with the Jedi and his slave had fallen victim to it.

He would not risk his prized slave any further. He would use another vessel to carry the victim's spirit into the machine.

* * *

An hour later, his slave was back at his side and one of his clones, a blank slate since all the '_jedi_' clones had been used by now, sat in the control chair. The solution had already taken effect on him, his vitals were stable, and another victim had been prepared for another test.

Sidious turned toward his waiting slave. "Take control of this clone. Make him pull the victim's spirit into him, and then withdraw. Do not connect with him in any other way. If you feel any pain before you should pull away, don't maintain contact."

"As you wish, Master."

His slave then stepped closer to the clone and Sent him a compulsive order.

While his slave remained unaffected by what followed, the clone groaned and convulsed for as long as the spirit wasn't completely taken away from his body and into a waiting fighter.

Those results were more satisfying, but the clone's vitals were still worrisome.

"Stay here and repeat the procedure when they tell you to." He then addressed the present techs. "Improve the process so that his vitals remain stable. Do whatever is necessary."

"As you wish, Master."

With a last glance at his obedient servants and passive Jedi slave, he left the test room.

Considering the ease with which the slave had taken control of his clone, he had some adjustment to make to some of his plans.

He sent orders to create another, larger batch of mindless Skywalker clones. He would need more, many more than he had initially planned. He also made a note to change the source material of his Byss installations as well because his former features were definitely useless to him now.

* * *

Since the slave was confined to the tech lab where he used the Force only a few times during the day, Luke was able to recover far more quickly than usually and finally managed to find refuge in his father's space.

There, he exposed his disgusting discovery to Anakin.

*What a deprived, sick bastard. I once heard him mention a species that turned spirits into the brains of machines, but I never thought... and he's using the Force?"

*Yeah... At first, the victims were prepared in a chair and infused with a metabolic solution, but now, they are simply brought in and enteched on the spot. It proves to be less painful to the clone that the slave controls. They are now testing variants of the solution for the clone. Before long, the process will be safe and they'll be able to proceed to the next phase."

*Which is?"

*Enteching several minds at once, I suppose."

*We have to stop this; we've got to get out of here right now!"

*My thought exactly," Luke smiled lamely. *Got any new idea on how to do that, though?"

*Well, we haven't tried that yet, but how about we both envision our escaping from '_here_'?" Ani suggested gamely.

Luke shrugged and sat in a meditation posture. *It's sure worth a try."

*Do or do not, there is no try," Anakin gently rebuked him while he joined him down on the '_floor_'.

*I know, but we have a high average of not doing so far, so... I am dubious about yet another attempt." In short, he was growing discouraged, and he couldn't help it.

Anakin rested his hand on his son's knee and squeezed encouragingly. *I know how you feel, Son, but we can't give up... can we?"

Luke sighed heavily. *No, we can't. It's just... it's just so hard sometimes," he admitted and suddenly sobbed and leaned into his father's strength. *I'm sorry. I know that I'm a Jedi and a grown man, and... that I should know better than that by now, but... but I can't..."

Anakin held him in his arms and rocked him slightly. *Never be ashamed of being human, Luke. You are holding up extremely well – better than I ever did before you found me. What we are going through cannot be compared to any other experience anyone has ever had. A little discouragement is thus more than normal, don't you think?"

Luke dried a tear and looked up at his dad. *I suppose so. But still, if what you're suggesting is the way out, why can't I be more..."

*Enthusiastic?" Ani supplied. *Because, as you said, you have learnt better than that now. How many failures have we had so far?"

*I lost count a while back."

*So did I," Ani admitted. *However, I still want to give this a shot. How about you?"

*Okay, on three?"

They both closed their '_eyes_' and imagined being back into their bodies and in control of them.

It didn't work.

*Of course, that would have been wayyyyyy too easy," Luke muttered, disgruntled.

*Yes. It appears that we still can't catch a break."

*Except for us being together."

*Yet we can't seem to be able to figure out what '_else_' we can do while together."

*Yeah," Luke agreed. *Well, if brainstorming isn't helping us, how about we change subjects?"

*What do you have in mind?"

*Tell me more about you and mom, please?"

* * *

While the entechnment team was preparing to move their device into a ship, the slave was assigned back with the children, who had grown to the equivalent of six years of age in the past months thanks to his repeated interventions in their aging process.

Now, his master had determined that it was time for the children to begin their training. His first order was to take control of them and lead them through advanced drills before seeing if they could do it on their own afterwards.

Luke silently suffered through the whole day during which the slave controlled the children. Then, the evening came, as well as the despot, and the children were tested on their own.

When the day's efforts proved to be useless since the children didn't learn beyond the first two stances of the first drill, Luke couldn't help it. He laughed long and hard, unable to stop himself despite the fact that he was not helping himself recover his strength.

Palpatine was just cumulating the failures, and even though Luke hurt horribly during each and every attempt that the other made to control nature while the Jedi was in his spiritual cell, the victory of the Force was just too ironic to ignore.

There the tyrant was, using the strongest Jedi ever for his petty schemes to overcome the natural ways of life, and the very Force that was at the basis of all processes refused to give him that victory even though he was using her for his own designs.

If only Luke didn't hurt so much during the '_battle_' of wills between those two powerful entities, he'd be happy to be of service to the Force's side.

His father then appeared beside him and collapsed as well, having just escaped Vader's latest use of him. When he heard him laugh lowly, he turned his head and propped himself on his elbow.

*Care to share with the rest of the class?"

*The Force won't let him win, Dad. No matter what he tries, it still has the last laugh."

*Ah? And so, is there any hope for us to ever escape him?" he inquired, pushing himself to a straighter position.

Luke sobered at that and turned his head toward his father. While the visiting spirit recovered quickly, the resident never did, and so, Luke was still more than exhausted and could only shift his eyesight to gaze up at him. *I sure hope so."

Anakin pushed closer to him and drew him up on his lap. *It will help us, Son. We're the last Jedi, but more importantly, you, or I, are the Chosen One. One of us is fated to bring back balance to the Force."

*And that sure ain't balance out there," Luke finished, seeking comfort in his father's chest.

*Exactly. Now, let me rejuvenate you while I can, huh?"

While the spirits used their communion to strengthen Luke, in the physical realm, Palpatine raved with frustration but was careful to hurt neither his Jedi slave nor his children.

Instead, he tormented the guards that were assigned inside the lab, ordered new troops to be brought in, and tormented those as well until death claimed them.

Then, and only then, he brought his Jedi slave to his neural scientists and ordered them to create a flash-training program based on the youth's knowledge of the Force.

* * *

Throughout the next weeks during which the slave was prodded and probed for knowledge so that the scientists could find a way to download that knowledge into a computer program, Luke was mostly left alone.

Of course, there were the daily rejuvenation sessions with the Emperor, and there was no telling when the leach would latch onto him from afar to momentarily increase his powers, but other than that, the Jedi spirit was mostly able to rest.

He was also able to see his father more often than not, and after several hours of sharing memories of their lives before their captivity, they had finally figured what other possibility they should put to the test.

Sitting together in a meditative position, father and son merged their awareness together and, as one, Reached out and sought the physical connection between Vader's body and his collar.

The moment that they touched it, though, Vader bent forward in torment and physically reached backward toward his neck. His pulse, although normally regulated by his suit, also suddenly spiked even as his consciousness faltered.

Both Jedi instantly withdrew and reintegrated the spiritual realm.

*The collar is definitely a no-go target," Anakin grimaced in disappointment.

*Yes, although... we actually Touched it. It must mean that, together, we can use our telekinesis! That's great!"

*Indeed, but how can we use it to our advantage? I mean, there isn't much I could have changed throughout the past twenty years with only that in my arsenal."

*Well, we could always sabotage the machines in that cursed entechment lab."

*Ah, then the next time we gather in your space, we take care of that."

*It's a date," Luke nodded grimly, and then sighed in relief and flopped down on his back. *At least '_that_' was a good day."

*Yes. We'll have to be extremely careful not to be caught, though, or we won't like the consequences."

*Discreet it is, then. Got it." The youth turned his head and looked at the stars that were visible through Vader's eyes'. *I used to want to visit the stars so much... I never thought that they'd lead me to '_this_'."

Anakin looked up at the '_sight_' as well and leaned back on his hands. *So did I. I wonder if they would have been safer if I had remained on Tatooine with Mom."

*And remain a slave?" Luke gaped, leaning up on his elbows. *That wouldn't have been a good thing, I think."

*Why not?"

*Well, for one, you wouldn't have learnt the values of the Jedi order, and two, there's no guarantee that Palpatine wouldn't have found you anyway. If he had, you could have really become Vader and we would be worse off, all of us."

*Perhaps, but I would never have become a fighter, let alone a Jedi general, and Palpatine wouldn't have turned me into a puppet. And I wouldn't have caused Padme's death."

*You might have never met her, too, which, I think, would have been a loss for the order of things."

When Anakin remained silent, Luke pushed himself back to a sitting position and in front of his sorrowful father. *Do you really regret loving her? Or having a son with Mom?"

*Only because it hurt you both in the end, Son. Otherwise, never in a thousand years, I assure you."

Luke leaned closer and patted his father's knee. *Well, then I only speak for myself, but I relieve you of this burden, Father. None of that was your fault. It was the Force at work, as well as the dark designs of a megalomaniac Sith Lord that wouldn't take no for an answer. And the Force is still at work, you know? I can Feel it," he smiled reassuringly.

*As is the megalomaniac Sith Lord," Anakin quipped blandly.

*Don't remind me," Luke replied with a grimace. He thought about the current developments for a moment or two. *By the way, if we can be together when they will try to entech large groups, we could discreetly stop them if we were in my space a little earlier."

They discussed their plan for as long as possible, and then, as usual, Vader called on the Force and Luke was shoved back into his own space.

Unfortunately for him, Palpatine had been siphoning him up for a while now, just like he had felt in the back of his mind.

What he hadn't expected was that the slave was reinforcing his master's aptitude to Sense Force-sensitive so that he could pinpoint them without even leaving Coruscant.

* * *

Clasping his right hand tightly over the head of his kneeling slave, Palpatine strained to expand his senses to the limits of the Mid Rim, but he couldn't.

No matter how much power he drew from the bottomless Force-pit that was the Jedi, he could only achieve so much and it frustrated him.

He was the Emperor; he should be the most powerful Force user that lived, yet he wasn't.

His enslaved Jedi, although will-less and unaware of anything but what he was directed to do, was always, by his mere existence and link to the Force, a reminder of his lesser status, twisting that knife into his gut.

Sometimes, it was so irritating that he was tempted to send him to a torture room for a while, but he always managed to hold himself back from uselessly hurting his tamed pet. He didn't want him to ever identify him as anything but the master that commanded him.

He never wanted him to recognize him as the master that hurt him.

He released his grasp on both the boy's head and the Force and caught his breath. Much to his frustration, the youth was as serene and as unaffected as ever by the magnitude of his effort to control the Force.

"Do as I just did. I will watch you. Find any other Force-strong individuals."

"As you wish, Master."

The boy fell back into a trance and Reached out. He methodically scanned the planet, the surrounding worlds, and so on and so forth with each planet of the Core, the deep Core, the Colonies, the Inner Rim, the Mid Rim, the Outer Rim, the Wild space, the Expansion region, the Unknown Regions, and even the edge of the Tingel Arm region.

It was further out and with far more range than anything Palpatine had ever managed even with his slave boosting his powers; if they were not so very useful to him, he would be deathly jealous of the Jedi's powers.

*Found anyone?" He asked him silently while the slave continued to search for Force-sensitive Presences.

"A boy, in the mines of Kessel, named Kyp Durron. Several women on Dathomir," he continued to enumerate.

"Ignore those. They are cut off from the rest of the galaxy and of no more danger to me. Who else?"

"A clone, on Khomm, of the Dorsk lineage. A... a youth named Gantoris that lives in the colony of Eol Sha, A CorSec investigator by the name of Corran Horn, a Rebel spy called Kyle Katarn. He is here, on Coruscant, right now."

"Where?"

His slave focused some more. "Coronet city,... quadrant 8923... hiding as a homeless citizen."

Palpatine instantly dispatched a squad to capture him and any accomplice.

"Continue."

This was working far better than he had expected.

Already, he could look forward to more potential Sith servants in the form of those untrained potential. He only had to send Vader after them and they would never escape him.

"A wandered named Havet Storm, in the Meridian sector. In hyperspace right now... He is headed for Rhen Var. I also sense... two potentials at the Magrody Institute: Cray Mingla and Nichos Marr. Marr is a trained Jedi."

Palpatine crushed his comlink upon hearing that. "What? How could Vader miss him?"

"He is not very powerful, Master, and he hasn't used the Force in years."

"Go on. Anyone else?" He asked even as he typed a priority signal beside the name of the trained Jedi target.

"A calamari slave named Cilghal. She is on Mon Calamari at the moment."

"A Rebel lieutenant, Dal Konur. He is aboard a ship in the Bothan space, currently in transition. They are headed for... Kothlis."

And so the list went on for the best part of the night as Luke's extreme sensitivity to other Force presences located each and every existing potential Jedi that existed.

Recording the results, Palpatine sat back and savoured this new victory over his potential enemies, planning already how he would deal with each and every one of them.

The aliens' lives were forfeit, of course, as were anyone older than twenty. He simply had no need for more Jedi headaches, especially now that he could create a Sith army that would not only be unstoppable, but would also be utterly obedient and devoted to him, and him alone.

No, he didn't need another Skywalker-like crisis. One had been enough, no matter the wondrous results that he had garnered from it.

As for the youths that were already too old to train, he could still use them in other capacities, if only to entertain himself or to have a Jedi to punish when the urge to hurt one became overbearing.

However, unless they were truly skilled in a particular field that would be useful to him, such as Dr Mingla whom he had singled out for his elite program, he would not waste even his controlling technology on them. They simply weren't worth the effort.

On the other hand, perhaps he could use them in the design of his next great project: a long-distance Jedi detector that wouldn't even need his slave's powers to find the newborns as they joined the rest of the galaxy.

Enjoying his new malevolant plans, he Reached out and tapped into the incredible asset that was his Jedi slave.

* * *

Days later, Luke was once again drained. Once the slave had been returned to the children's quarters, after pushing the limit of his sensing abilities to locate any and all Jedi potentials out there, Luke had hoped that he'd be able to focus long enough to escape into his father's space, but to no avail.

Then, when the slave had finally stopped using the Force again, Luke had found his focus but had been blocked off, meaning that his father was also being used at that time.

After that, the clone had begun training the children as per Palpatine's orders because the flash training device had not yielded any result either. The children, who had now reached eight years of mental age, would not learn how to '_use_' the Force in any other way but the traditional one. Hence, following the curriculum that had been drawn by Palpatine, the slave guided the children into levitation and fighting lessons, pushing them to their limits and punishing them if they didn't succeed.

Even as he suffered every time he was leached upon, Luke also wished that he could block out that part of the procedure, or that he could stop it somehow, but of course, he couldn't do anything or even stop witnessing it.

His only escape was to disappear in his father's mind, and so every time that the slave left him alone, he tried the now familiar technique, but every time, he ran into a wall.

Vader was obviously hard at work hunting down the potentials.

And Luke wanted to die.

To really die, too, not merely feel as if he were dying over and over again yet still remain alive.

He was curled up over himself, facing away from the '_eyes_' even though he could still hear the children's cries whenever they were hurt. He couldn't block '_that_' away, much to his chagrin.

Even though his had not had a good day in far too long, he had still not felt nearly that horrible ever. Slowly, it dawned on him that he had somehow been confident that he and his father would have found a way out before that day ever came, yet there he was.

Worst, they were '_his_' children, so to speak, and he couldn't do '_anything_' to protect them like he should.

Now he knew exactly how his father felt.

He suddenly felt the beginning of another draining session and braced himself for it.

Little good that did him.

* * *

When he grew aware of his circumstances once again, the slave was climbing aboard an unfamiliar ship.

Luke understood what it meant and tried again to contact his father.

This time, it worked, thank the Force.

*Dad," he hissed against his pains the moment that he caught sight of his father's crumpled form in the middle of the '_room_'. *Dad, you've got to come back with me. They're about to run the entechment tests we talked about."

Although his energies were coming back to him faster now that he was away from his own cell, his father was recovering very slowly.

*Luke..."

The youth crawled and struggled on four toward the slumped figure and rested a hand over him. *Come on, just a little effort and you'll be the one in better shape. It's now or never, Dad."

*I know... On three," he joked weakly.

*Three," Luke replied and focused on them both returning to his spiritual cell. Anakin merely needed to think himself there, and Luke did the rest.

Still, in his state, even a mere thought was a huge effort and so, the moment that they arrived, both Anakin and Luke collapsed back down in exhaustion.

*Whew, he hasn't begun yet." He looked at the '_eyesight_' and recognized the clone that was now hard-wired into the chair, his only reason to exist anymore. *There's no time to lose."

However, even as he said it, he felt his own strengths missing the call and he stumbled back down after he tried to stand up. It was Anakin's turn to help him up. *Let's stay close and simply focus as one, like last time."

*And be discreet or they will report our feat and..."

*Yes, yes, I know. Ready?"

*Go," Luke nodded even as he focused his awareness on his father's, and vice versa.

Once they were merged as one, they tentatively reached out, careful not to attract the slave's attention, and focused their attention on the chair's control system. Once in there, Anakin studied the layout for a second before he suggested to pull on a red wire. Just enough for it to come lose as could happen with any technology.

They then hastily retreated back into Luke's space even as the slave sat in front of his alter-ego and prepared for the test.

For now, he was under the orders of his temporary master, namely the head of department of the project.

"Okay," the man addressed his subordinates, "this is a first large-scale test. We know that it worked for up to ten people at a time. Let's up the ante to ten times that."

"I suggest we proceed by increments," a subordinate pointed out.

"Naturally." He called the hangar where special battle droids had been gathered for the experiment. "Ready down there?"

The answer was positive.

"What is the ETA to the target?" he inquired next to the piloting crew.

"One minute and closing, Sir. Approaching the coordinates in The Works as per orders."

*The Works?!" Luke gaped in horror and turned toward his father. *They're going after the poorest of the poors."

*And the criminals, but you're right, they'll probably focus on the homeless that can disappear without a trace."

Luke clenched his fists and even bit his lower lip in nervousness. *Do you think that it'll work?"

*Well, our test did at any rate. As for our sabotage, I am an innate mechanic, remember? Machines speak to me... somehow," he shrugged inanely.

*Right, sorry. It's just... we can't let them do that—"

"We're there, Sir."

The head of department turned toward the waiting slave. "Make him draw in twenty souls."

*See ya later," Luke said nervously even as he tensed at the first effect of the slave's concentration.

Anakin didn't have time to answer before he was shoved out of his son's mental space.

When the agony stopped, Luke forced himself to remain aware enough to hear what the results were.

The entechment had worked.

*No," he moaned. They had failed. All the souls that he could also Feel out there were doomed because of him.

Or so he thought.

What no one knew, though, was that while the sabotage had worked, the powers of the mindless clone had compensated for it by reflexively pushing the extra souls out of him and into the machine. The extra effort had slightly elevated his vitals, but the results had remained within safe parameters.

Hence, with each new test that involved more souls to simultaneously process, the hard-wired clone kept compensating, unable to bear that many souls into him- until they tried to entech too many souls at once and the failure occurred.

The result was also rather spectacular as the clone not only convulsed in physical agony, but he even began bleeding from his nose and ears as the strain became too much for even his brain.

He then stilled forever, deader than dead.

While the slave remained impassive, the techs hurried over and checked their machine, aware that any failure was severely punished.

Luke, who was suddenly galvanized by that delayed victory, painfully forced himself to return to his father and brought him back into his space.

*It still worked for a while, though. That means that they could still use it against assailants in battle or..."

*Unless they all die in a crash."

*Including me?" Luke jerked in horror.

*No, of course not," Ani reassured him, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder while he planned further. *Here's an idea. After we provoke the crash, we could shield the slave from any harm."

*We can do that?"

Anakin smirked confidently at him. *Everything is possible with the Force."

*All right, but how will he explain that to Palpatine?"

*Protective reflexes when he was thrown out of his chair," Ani shrugged easily. *You said that Sidious was concerned about this part of your physical basic instincts, correct?"

*Yes... So, we'll protect my body and plant a thought that it was his reflexive doing?"

*It's either that or allowing this horror to continue its abominable work."

*Okay, so first, the crash."

*Let's see if we can plant a compulsive order of our own."

With a last nod of agreement, Father and Son joined Forces yet again, careful to remain discreet even though their action would not remain so once they would be done.

* * *

When the news came in during an important meeting with his generals and advisors, Palpatine was instantly on his feet and on his way to his shuttle.

His Jedi slave was caught in the crash of the new and mobile entechment lab.

He Reached out and checked on his Presence; he breathed a little easier when he felt him in pain from a broken leg and a headache, but otherwise alive and still under his control.

His pet's reflexes had simply kicked in at the ultimate moment and he had saved himself even without orders to act.

However, the slave hadn't extended his abilities to anyone else and so, Sidious' entire project team, their technology and secrets, and even the results of their latest test had all gone up in smoke.

Running through is slave's memories even before he reached him, Palpatine saw how the process first killed the clone who then reflexively Reached out and tore the ship's engines apart.

So '_that_' had been the peak of Force powers that he had Felt during his latest meeting. He had wondered why it had Felt so much like his slave's signature, yet not quite like it either. The entechment technology had apparently twisted the signature of the brainless clone into a variation of the original's.

He dismissed the matter entirely and focused on how he would deal with this unforeseen loss.

Indeed, it was most unfortunate that the pilots had not only lost control of the ship, but that they had actually crashed it into an old weapon factory that had also exploded after the impact, thus destroying the ship beyond salvage...

What an extraordinary stroke of bad luck.

He leaned further back in his plush passenger chair while his pilots brought his shuttle to a safe landing near the newly-arrived rescue ships.

* * *

When Palpatine arrived, wearing the angry and disappointed feature of Emperor Luke Skywalker, both Luke and Anakin were still watching the proceedings from the slave's mind.

The results had been better than expected, and they had also discovered that they could do much more than plant a compulsion.

They could actually alter the slave's memories while he was unconscious.

Anakin suspected that they could probably do the same to Vader, although the other slave was far more autonomous with his thoughts and never fell unconscious.

Still, if the day's events had been disappointing for the enemy, they had been most instructive for the two Jedi prisoners.

They watched warily as Sidious approached his waiting and listless Jedi slave and checked him up and down.

They saw him frown at the gash on the boy's forehead, at the sprained middle and index fingers of his left hand, and at his broken right tibia from which the bone had now pierced the skin. Palpatine then studied the surrounding environment and noticed the trail that the boy had made with his body when he had stumbled and dragged himself away from the crash site.

"Rest, my boy. You did well," he finally stated, and Anakin could Feel that the statement was directed as much to Palpatine's exacting mind as to the quietly waiting slave. "Allow the medics to tend to you for as long as necessary."

He turned toward the emergency medics. "See to him. Deliver him to my private medcenter."

"As you wish, your Highness."

He then focused his attention on the crash site and the firefighter that were trying to contain the blaze.

Luke and Anakin exchanged content glances. They had finally marked a point against their jailor, and the best part of their small victory was that the Sith wasn't aware of their latest achievement.

He didn't even suspect that they could do anything against him.

A new battle had finally begun.

Then, Palpatine instructed his slave to also Heal himself with the Force and the two Jedi were yet again forced apart as Vader was also using the Force at that moment.

Neither of them were aware of Palpatine's own Force manipulations as he planted compulsions into the minds of each and every rescuer so that they would never remember seeing a perfect copy of their emperor at the crash site, or carrying that copy to the hangar bay of the Emperor's private medcenter, near his residence.

* * *

TBC

Well? How was that? Did you like the Father/Son reunion despite its circumstances? And what about their peculiar prisons? Do you find them plausible? Interesting? Intriguing? And, of course, how much do you hate Palpatine after everything he's already done to Luke? ;P Any other thought you'd like to share? :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long! Moreover, they are a great incentive to return to this fic and its unique predicament for our favorite Jedi heroes :)

P.s. : By the way, sorry about the ' ' around the italicized words, but it was either leave them there and post this week, or erase them before posting and not update before another month at least... I am already one month later than I expected to be ready for this update... I figured that updating the stories was more important for you than the ' '. Was I right?

While you enjoy the new updates, I will finish the edition and remove the ' ', don't worry ;P


	5. Chapter 5

The longest night

By Mireille

02-01-01/2013

* * *

Previously: After being delivered by Vader to the Emperor, Luke found out that, unlike what anyone ever thought, Vader was the result of a mind-control device that Palpatine used on Anakin Skywalker when the noble youth refused to join him. Worse, Anakin was similarly controlled to kill his wife as a punishment for his attempts to resist his spiritual bonds. Anakin's last attempt to regain control afterward resulted in his accident that sealed him in a survival suit.

After hearing those horrifying revelations, Luke was also submitted to the same Sith technology and turned into the Emperor's latest slave. Although cut off from his body, he remained aware of his unwilling actions as well as horribly tortured whenever the slave called on the Force using his spiritual connection with the power. In his unique mental prison, Luke found out that he could communicate with his father. At first, Anakin appeared long beaten into a ghost of his former self, but with Luke's help, he recovered his strong spirit and, together, they eventually discovered that when they acted as one, they could once again use the Force to fight against their tormentor.

* * *

Good evening everyone! First of all, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story's last post! Your comments really meant a lot to me!

Nilihil, thanks as well for your anonymous review. Here is more at last ;)

Thanks as well for the favorites and alerts. I still hope to one day hear your thoughts in more details :)

As promised in the last post, I am adding to this story now that I have a little more ready to share :) I hope you'll have fun once again!

If you want more faster aftert his post, you know how to make me want to add more to this faster, right? ;P Yup, you got it ;) You have to hit the button at the bottom of this post and do your reader thing :)

Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts :D

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas and Walt Disney Co. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

**Part 5: Meanwhile, in the rest of the galaxy...**

After the accident in The Works, the slave used the Force to heal himself, forcing the Jedi apart once again now that Vader was also using the Force a lot in his new hunt for Jedi potentials. Then, since there was nothing else to do with the in-vitro Sith children, who had turned out to be less powerful than their biological father and were unable to learn otherwise than through traditional training, Palpatine decided to use his Jedi slave in a new regeneration experience.

This time, he had him feeding the Force into his future new body for a whole week before they performed the new transmigration.

During that time, the lack of rejuvenation sessions at night took their toll on the Sith master who was steeped into the Dark Side and its debilitating powers. As a result, by the time that the preparation time was over, Sidious had aged so dramatically that he had taken precautions to be seen as little as possible, pretending to leave for top secret negotiations as he had been pretending to do from time to time.

Even in a different body, he discovered, old age was an ugly affair. He also understood that without the boy's intervention, the aging process was happening as if he had never rejuvenated him before. Worse, the problem was occurring faster with each new transmigration and he couldn't stop that in any way.

Hence, this latest new transfer was not only a new experience, but an unavoidable conclusion to his current experiment.

However, once he would be young again, he would made certain to receive a daily dose of healing.

The boy clearly was the only antidote that worked to slow his rate of decay.

Unless, of course, his latest test did more than increase the powers of his new body.

He entered the transfer room where his slave was intently focused on his master's waiting body. The two young bodies were practically glowing with the strength of the boy's Force sending, which meant that his slave had not held back in this new endeavour.

Of course, he had known that already, but still... Another confirmation was always comforting.

He sat in his throne chair, as he had the last time, and dismissed everyone but his slave. "When I signal you, split your concentration to surround my presence with a shield while maintaining your actual meditation."

"Yes, Master," the boy croaked from a throat dry from lack of water. Even though he had been fed intravenously to avoid any complications, he had still not drunk anything for more than five days.

Satisfied by his answer, Palpatine settled back and concentrated on his own trance.

Like last time, the boy performed wonderfully, keeping his master's powers whole from one body to the next even as his Force-sending compounded Palpatine's powers while he settled into his new body.

For long minutes, the despot revelled in the sensation of being the most powerful being alive, and then aware that he had to maintain this power on his own, he ordered his Jedi slave to withdraw his support.

The moment that the boy's influence was gone, the extra power began slipping away. Panicked, Palpatine tried to pull it back in, to gather it and lock it down inside his own essence, but to no avail.

It wasn't his... would never be his.

He simply couldn't circumvent the Force in _that_ domain, could only tap occasionally into the his slave's potential.

The sound of a body crumpling to the floor then startled him and he sat up in surprise before he looked where his slave had been sitting at the head of the medical bunk.

The boy had fallen down, unable to remain conscious anymore after such a continuous and extreme effort. Palpatine took a moment to study his fallen servant - who was once again an exact physical copy of his new body; he took note of his harsh breathing, his sweat-bathed features and his bleeding hand from where the nutrient needle had been torn during the fall, and then he finally shrugged in lack of concern.

His slave was fine and simply needed rest. It was more than he, the master and most powerful Sith Lord ever, could claim.

In fact, he needed to vent his frustration on a Force-strong individual, and an older would-be Jedi had just been delivered to him this week.

The brat would do perfectly.

* * *

The moment that Anakin managed to return to Luke's side, he pulled him back into his own mental space, cradling his son's inert and burnt-looking _body_. The boy was quivering with every breath that rattled through his _lungs_, and he was moaning incoherent pleas of mercy.

*No more... no... can't..."

*Luke," Anakin called in despair while he sent his own strength into his son to help him. *What happened?" Even during his twenty-two years of _detention_, he had never been in that bad a shape when Vader had stopped using him.

*Intense... days... on end..."

That he had already known because he hadn't been able to contact his son in almost five days, or so he estimated based on Vader's own time table.

*What was he doing?"

*New body... stronger... failed..."

When Anakin set a hand on his son's temple, Luke's recovery hastened up and the traces of burns quickly disappeared from his skin. A few minutes later, and the trembling, which had been due to utter spiritual exhaustion, dwindled and finally vanished.

*Even the slave passed out this time... It was too much... but Palpy failed... again," the boy smiled weakly before he eagerly welcomed in some more of his father's healing energies.

*Then it was probably a one-time occurrence."

*I sure hope so... Thanks for coming after me. I really wouldn't have been able to move here... on my own." He straightened a little and his father set him down on his lap but continued to hold him in his arms.

*Unless they keep us apart, Son, we will never be separated again, I promise."

*Good to know... so what's next?"

*How about we test our mind-controlling abilities on Vader? He's far enough that we won't get caught by Palpatibe, and we can always plant a memory in Vader if he senses something."

*Where are we?"

*En route to the Corporate Sector. He is waiting for _something_ to happen. I say we provide it to him, even if he won't remember it."

*Well," Luke sighed and pushed himself to a sitting position and out of his father's lap. *It is the next step, isn't it? Might as well see if that will work, too. However, I'd feel safer if we first tried to plant a compulsion in him and see how _that_ goes. I mean, you said it yourself: he is more autonomous than the slave. That means that he's got shields in place as well, as I clearly remember from my many unfortunate encounters with him."

*Very well, let's send him back to his quarters. He'll never know that it was not his own decision."

* * *

As it was, Luke and his father not only managed to plant thoughts and compulsions in the mentally-shielded Dark Lord, but they could also take complete control of him and his actions.

Hence, they made him forget that he was after a Force-strong individual and then turn the fleet around and back toward Coruscant.

Finally, now that they finally had a concrete way to fight against Palpatine, the two Jedi planted a compulsion that would make Vader use the Force as rarely as possible, thus providing them with a safe haven in Anakin's _mind_.

However, aware that they needed Luke's information to plan a strategy that would be assured of success – as they wouldn't have a second chance if the Emperor ever realized what they could do – they reluctantly separated and Luke returned in his own body.

He was utterly stumped when he found out that, not only several days had gone by since he had been rescued by his father, but that he was out of the labs – at last. He was now following his jailer down what seemed to be palace's corridors.

As they walked past gilded mirrors, Luke caught sight of his reflection in one of them and gaped. Who _was_ that?

He pondered the question long and hard, aware that his mind had not been transferred into another body; he could still feel everything that made him who he was, even when cut off from his motor control center like he was. That only left one explanation: prosthesis. He focused his attention on everything that surrounded the slave and his master and he belatedly grew aware that several people had fallen in behind Emperor _Skywalker_... Of course, he snorted at his failure to understand faster. Palpy didn't want a look-alike to follow and serve him because that would raise far too many and uncomfortable questions about his _twin's_ identity.

Thus, now that Palpatine had decided to use the real Skywalker in his court, he had to hide the fact that the Emperor was not the real ex-hero of the Rebellion.

Luke was still pondering how he could use that discovery to his advantage when the Emperor did something completely unexpected: he stopped by a richly-dressed and elaborately done red-head young woman who was curtsying low to the floor along with other young women and courtiers, and offered her his hand before he gently invited her up and by his side.

While Luke instantly felt drawn to the young woman, the Emperor's actions left him completely bewildered.

"You look stunning this morning, my Empress. I trust you slept well."

Empress? Luke frowned. In all his years of reign, Palpatine had never been known to have any interest in the _weaker_ sex, as he had decreed it in one of his first edicts. Granted, Palpatine had never been much to look at before recently, hiding his monstrous features under shadowed cowls and many-folds robes, but still...

Luke was still pondering that new mystery when a burst of hindsight filled him, the knowledge coming straight from the Force. That young woman was _his_ destiny, the Force-ordained soul mate of the real Luke Skywalker, whom he had once met but couldn't remember till now. As a result, a particular resonance and attraction drew even their physical bodies to one another, and that was what Palpatine had succumbed to.

However, while Mara Jade, as she was named, also felt something for the _new_ emperor, she could also feel that something was wrong and thus, was still wary and tried to keep her distance from the strange distortion that she could feel whenever she was near Palpatine in disguise.

Luke understood all that, and more, almost instantaneously before the _flash_ disappeared once again.

He was still watching the unfolding events as the young woman fell in step beside her husband and they stepped out of their royal residence.

Then, another surprise awaited Luke: she turned slightly toward him - whoever he now happened to be - and looked at him from over her richly-covered shoulder. He then became aware that something akin to recognition or shock flashed in her emerald-green – gorgeous – eyes.

Eyes that were now familiar to him thanks to the Force's input.

Even as he also remembered that there was more to this young woman than her beauty or their attraction to one another, Luke wished, for the first time in a long time, that he could control his body once again and at least return the flash of acknowledgment.

The Emperor then turned toward his empress and drew her attention back toward their destination as the ornamented doors of their private lift slid open.

Only the very few privileged advisors - all enslaved through collars like Luke - were allowed to board the same lift then their new rulers. Despite appearances, Palpatine was still as wary and controlling as ever, even in public.

Luke filed the information for later use while he waited for the next event to occur.

* * *

Unlike the dreary and gloomy room that Luke had seen when he had first arrived on the planet, the throne room was now a well-lit, gold-pillared room with dark tiling that was intersected by golden and silver veins. Each window - new windows that hadn't been there before - opened on a large balcony and was framed by blood-red velvet drapes that went from the high ceiling to the dark floor. As for the ceiling that was so high that it gave a cavernous appearance to the large room, it was covered with alabaster marble that was overlaid with golden carvings.

The high dais from which the Emperor had leered down at his subjects had been brought down to a more reasonable level, and the single throne chair had been replaced by two throne chairs, one larger than the other.

Their unmistakable forms detached themselves from the wall of light that shone behind them as the light of the day came through the thick transparisteel window panes that formed the back wall of the new dais.

In short, Luke shuddered when he completely understood what they were truly up against, Palpatine had made sure to put on a show that was completely different from his former identity.

He decided that, before he returned to his father's side, he _had_ to know more about the current Empire and Palpatine's new plans. Neither he nor his father had ever known about those changes occuring.

In his case, his physical limitation to the labs and the experiments he was involved in had kept him completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy, but in his father's case...

It could only mean that it was all a charade and that Vader was only involved in his usual role of Fleet commander, not even bothering to pay attention to the lies spun by his master whenever he dealt with the rest of the galaxy. His theory was further confirmed when he became aware that ever since he had been captured, he hadn't heard about Vader reporting on Coruscant.

Not even once.

Palpatine was keeping Vader up his sleeve while completely detaching the Emperor's new physical identity from the infamous Sith Lord - the only one officially known ever since the rise of the Empire.

He was pretending to be a Jedi! Luke belatedly understood, feeling like he was going to be sick. No... He hadn't dared-

Desperate for further information, he searched the short term memories of the slave and checked his standing orders.

He thus found out that, while Palpatine pretended to be a benevolent ruler that sought to re-establish democracy, Luke would now be used to reinforce that illusion in any possible way. Hence, as soon as the slave woke up, he had to meditate on creating the Empire the way his master had described it to him – obedient, subdued, and utterly devoted to and pleased by their rightful ruler who had freed them from under Palpatine's thumb.

Then, from the moment that he reported to his master to the moment that he was dismissed, the slave had to read the thoughts of any and all interlocutors that his master met that wasn't the Empress. Should any of them be displeased with his master, he was to immediately transmit the information to his master.

Finally, the slave controlled the whole new army of clones.

Luke balked in horror at that but forced himself to gather the rest of the appalling information from his own captive mind.

Darth Sidious was, as of the present day, freeing all the conscripts, replacing them with a new clone army that had been created to, allegedly, protect them all from possible invasion. In truth, however, they were all Luke's clones, thus imbued with the Force and sharing the slave's exact mental wavelenght.

Unlike their clone predecessors, they were Sith-trained.

An army of dark Jedi, Luke gasped in horror and decided that he had learnt enough. He went back to the safe haven before the slave could lock him down by using the Force yet again. The Jedi now knew that it would soon happen again. He had just been lucky to return in between two scans from the slave and that no one beside the Empress had interacted with the Emperor so far.

That, or the Force was once again with him.

* * *

*Dad, Palpy's been busier than we thought! You won't believe..."

His father was gazing at the _sight_, his hands held together behind his back, his feet held slightly apart in a grim and grounded stand. *Oh, I think I have a pretty fair idea of what you just found out," he sighed, not turning around.

Luke stepped up to his side and looked _out_ as well.

Vader and his generals were all standing at attention on the bridge of Executor as the Emperor's broadcast went on.

"What? But I just left and..."

Luke belatedly understood that what felt instantaneous to his soul took, in fact, much longer to happen.

"My friends," the Emperor was saying mock-magnanimously in Luke's caring voice. "A year ago, I defeated the tyrant Palpatine in a fierce and harduous duel of Force masters. Today, as promised, I hereby free any and all conscripts from their military service. Even as we speak, the new clones are being put into service everywhere they are needed. At last, your families will be reunited and the war is truly over. As for the new senate, the elected representatives are welcome to travel to Coruscant; beginning in three weeks, information sessions will be held in the new Hall of justice for any and all of them. Once this formality will be over, the first official session will take place, and we will usher in a new time of Peace and Justice. To _our_ new Empire," he raised a hand and the Empress and visible courtiers all raised a crystal glass in support.

"And to our Jedi saviour," they answered.

While Luke gagged in disgust, Anakin clenched his fists in outrage. *That lowly... He knew that, as Palpatine, his reputation was a lost cause. Therefore, when he took on your identity, he used yours and the Jedi's to his advantage by starting _anew_, learning from his past mistakes..."

*While nobody's the wiser because he keeps them in line with the use of his Dark Side meditations, and now the slave's more powerful and efficient meditations. He was after more than my potential,... he was also after my... I just... I never saw _that_ coming."

*Neither did I, and since Vader was not involved in that part of the plan-"

"He's kept as his ace up his sleeve while he appears to have gone his own way while he, in fact, takes care of Palpy's dirty work when needed."

"Yes, that's my conclusion as well. It explains why so many generals are still against the new rulers, regrouping around Vader. Besides, his recent Jedi hunt leaves no doubt that he still does Palpy's bidding.

*And he is far too much of an imperial figurehead to be involved in any other form of ruling, at least not without raising far too many questions... but those should be raised. Those and so many more. I say it's time that we really did something about all those lies, Dad. I've had it up to _here_ with them," he grimaced, shifting his hand over his head to illustrate his point. *I mean, he's... he's _defiling_ everything that I am... everything that I stand for. This is maddening, sickening... It's worse than what we suffer at the hands of the slaves."

*I agree. Do you have a plan, though?"

*Actually...," Luke smirked grimly, *I do, but we'll need to be in my space to implement it."

Which meant that they needed the slave to take a break from Force usage for them to get an opportunity to implement Luke's idea.

That was yet another hurdle to overcome, they both sighed in resignation, aware that while they had managed to gain a respite with Vader, Luke's slave was another matter altogether. After all, not only was Palpatine keeping him busy with some task or another involving his Force talents, but he was also within sensing range of the despot.

They would have to thread very carefully if they wanted to keep their only power secret long enough to be able to use it against the Sith.

Since Luke knew that the slave was still using the Force at the moment, he remained with his father, planning in minute details when, how and with whom they would proceed when they would finally be able to act.

The difficult part was to figure out how to involve the slave with a command or an action that would be so short and precise that they would not attract Sidious' attention with their intervention.

With Vader, though, it was a little simpler, if no less challenging because they would still have to make sure that Sidious would not feel them when they acted. They also had to make sure that whatever they made Vader do would not be uncovered by the enemy.

Hence, they sat in meditation and planning sessions for hours on end, reviewing everything they knew of the enemy and of Vader's less-known assets.

Meanwhile, the tension in the back of Luke's head remained, informing him that the slave was still using the Force, making torture a certainty if he returned to his space right now.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that? How did you like Palpatine's desperate attempt to beat off old age? Or what he has been doing _off_ _screen_ ever since taking over Luke's identity? How much do you hate Palpatine after everything he's been doing in the Jedi's name? ;P Any other thought you'd like to share? :) Any idea as to what awaits them next?

Have a great holiday season everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long! Moreover, they are a great incentive to return to this fic and its unique predicament for our favorite Jedi heroes :)


	6. Chapter 6

The longest night

By Mireille

02-01-01/2013

* * *

Previously: After being brought to the Emperor, Luke found out that Vader was, in fact, the result of a mind-control device that Palpatine used on Anakin Skywalker when his father refused to join him. Worse, the collared Anakin was then made to kill his wife as a punishment for his desperate attempts to resist his invisible bonds. The Jedi's next attempt to regain control of his body, during his horrifying duel against his father/brother, resulted in the accident that sealed him in a survival suit.

Luke was then submitted to the same Sith technology and turned into the Emperor's latest _elite_ slave. Although cut off from his body, he remained aware of everything that happened and that was inflicted upon the slave. Then, whenever the slave called on the Force, he found himself horribly tortured for as long as he was used as the spiritual channel between the physical part of his true self and the power of the Force. In his unique mental prison, Luke found out that while the Force send insights directly into him, he could also communicate with his captive father. At first, Anakin appeared long beaten into a ghost of his former self, but with Luke's help, he recovered his strong spirit and, together, they eventually discovered that when they acted as one, they could once again use the Force to fight against their tormentor.

Meanwhile, Palpatine soon became Luke Skywalker after transferring his soul into one of the many clones of his Jedi slave. Now the _destroyer_ of the evil Emperor, Palpatine took advantage of both the boy's and the Jedi's good reputations and adapted his ruling methods so that he now appeared benevolent; no one besides Vader and his _elite_ collared slaves knew that nothing had changed. After a year spent out of sight, Luke was then physically altered so as to be able to masquerade as _Skywalker's_ new prime advisor without anyone being the wiser, not even the new Emperor's wife, aka Mara Jade. Elsewhere, an army of Sith Luke will-less clones replaced the conscripts so that while the fleet and army appeared to become tools for peace, the clones were in fact tucked away and spread throughout the galaxy where they began to use constant Sith meditations to reinforce and maintain their master's inescapable grip on the whole galaxy.

* * *

Good afternoon everyone! First of all, thanks to Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay for her fast review of the latest post :) Oh yes, Palpatine's just asking for a painful death, isn't he? Or even several of those ;P Thanks for your continued interest and great comment! This long post, which includes everything that I have written so far and that is ready for posting, is for you :) I hope you'll enjoy how they will deal with the situation :)

If you want more faster after this post, you know what to do, right? ;P Yup, you got it ;) You have to hit the button at the bottom of this post and do your reader thing :)

Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts :D For those who favorited and/or alerted this fic, I'd really love to hear your thoughts after this long and end of the first part of this fic :)

For those who'd like to read more about the past encounter between Mara and Luke that I refer to, or Luke's capture on Balti, read my old stories called : Caught and Unfathomable Series (Pre-destinated soulmates only)

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Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belongs to me; everything belongs to George Lucas and Walt Disney Co. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

**Part 6: Palpatine's weakness**

Five weeks after the first anniversary of the new imperial republic, Mara Jade sat primly - yet again - on her throne chair beside her emperor and estranged husband: Jedi master Luke Skywalker.

Ever since he had emerged victorious from his duel against her former master, he had pulled her out of the shadows and mystery that had always surrounded her and her role in the Empire, and into the limelight of the throne room and its audition dais, as well as into the intricacies and lavish comforts worthy of the empress that he had turned her into. Ever since they had met once again, he had showered her with gifts that had been as much of material as of a non-material natures, the first of them being her freedom from Palpatine's memory blocks.

Thanks to Skywalker, she had remembered the whole truth about the circumstances of her arrival at the palace, as well as how her ex-master had treated her like a mere slave even though she had thought of him as a father.

That discovery had been difficult to accept, but, again, Skywalker had been there for her and had offered her to lead the new Empire-soon-to-be-a-republic with him, by his side. She had naturally accepted, aware that the farmboy she had fallen in love with, when she had been sixteen, had finally found his way back to her. She could never let him go again anymore than he could.

They had married almost as soon as he had asked for her hand, a little under a month after Palpatine's demise. The speed of their union had resulted from his need to provide a sure sign of better things to come, or so he had told her. Then, like a true political union, she had seen very little of her husband and ruler as he had immersed himself in his work; she had done her best to find ways to help him in less important matters.

As a result, their reunion hadn't been nearly as passionate as she had sometimes fantasized, not even on their first night as newlyweds.

At first, there had simply been too much work waiting for them both; as a former operative of the former Empire, she had had much to contribute in how to maintain control over less but no more dissident elements remaining from the former government.

Nowadays, however, she was feeling less and less useful, and more like a beautiful but pointless bauble, just like many had thought of her when she had pretended to be a mere courtesan in Palpatine's court.

Her husband, who had preferred to give her separate quarters in the imperial residence so as to not encroach on her need for rest whenever he worked late, asked very little from her except her supportive presence when they were exposed to the public eye.

And thus she was and, after a year of ruling, he clearly had everything well in hand. In fact, he had even surpassed everyone's expectations in terms of the changes that would and could be brought upon the old Empire so as to turn it back into a republic, but without the mistakes of the past.

At first, she had been confused by his distancing and she had only belatedly understood that the boy that she had fallen for had become a man _and_ Jedi master. He had grown so much since she had last seen him that he had already known to shut out each and every distraction for as long as he hadn't achieved all his goals, and what was romance but a distraction?

Furthermore, whereas Palpatine had let his military and advisors do most of the work as far as planning and organizing had gone, Emperor Skywalker was a hands-on man. As a result, however, he spent countless hours in his office, studying reports and charts before he ever set any changes in motion, establishing yet another pillar of the new era that he had ushered the galaxy into.

And what changes he had implemented!

First, he had restored the freedom of speech throughout the galaxy, as well as equality between all species and sexes. Then, he had sent an open invitation for every planet to hold elections for a new senate representative. While the senate had still been a long way in the future, he had authorized and even encouraged the election process to begin right away so that everyone would be ready to step in when the time would come.

Other than dispatching the Fleet to ensure civil security, he had not intervened in the procedures and/or nominations.

Finally, after reigning in the Fleet, Vader and the army for more than nine months, he had extended a hand of truce to the Rebellion, Palpatine's sworn enemies, and had invited them to select a representative for the seat that he reserved for them in the new senate in construction.

Thus, in appearance, a new Empire was, indeed, taking shape and everyone was happier than before the changes.

However, that was only what transpired for the common citizen... and even the non-sensitive ones of the inner circle of the new ruler. For the Force-sensitive that she was, however, it was clear that the appearances were deceiving.

First of all, Lord Vader was still roaming the galaxy, allegedly to keep the fleet in line as he had supposedly assisted in Palpatine's demise so as to save the son of his once best friend. However, she had felt enough spikes in the Force lately to know that he was still hunting Jedi potentials, who were then delivered to the palace.

She dared not search too much or too precisely for them – a detention block was no place for an empress, after all. Besides, they always quickly disappeared from her senses upon arriving, which meant that they were kept under ysalamiri influence.

As long as the were hidden like that, she knew that she could never find them.

Aside from her, however, no one seemed to know or even be aware of those peculiar arrivals. Not only did that rouse her suspicions, but it simply didn't make any sense for the new imperial republic to hold such individuals... Not when her husband was a Jedi master and that the newest member of his inner circle was also a Jedi... unless her husband was not, in fact, a true Jedi... In such case, everything took a whole different meaning as the Jedi were the sworn enemies of the Sith and _Palpatine_ had been infamous for hunting down and even coercing hard-headed Jedi opponent into doing his bidding.

Palpatine, her former and allegedly-dead master.

That was where her second doubt came in: there was something eerily familiar about her husband's Force-signature. While she could recognize the features of the farmboy that she had never forgotten, his Force signature was different... very different, yet so very strangely familiar.

Granted, when she had first met Luke on Tatooine, he had only been sensitive to the Force, not yet trained to harness its powers, but still... his shining Light was now strangely dampened and even... twisted, if she could use that word to express just how eerie he _felt_ to her.

Up until the week of the anniversary, she had learnt to accept it as normal, a probable result of his growing quickly into a Jedi master while having to make hard choices to maintain his control over the mutating government.

However, with the replacements of his former advisors by a single young Jedi seer who went by the name of Kyle Durron, more pieces of the previously-nebulous puzzle had revealed themselves to her. Indeed, while Durron, a black haired, no non-sense and plain looking young man, was an incredibly talented and visionary advisor, managing to leave more of a mark in his five first weeks of duty than all the former councillors had in a whole year, a very unpleasant possibility had begun to nag at her.

After all, whereas Mr Durron's features and voice were anything but her farmboy's, as proven whenever she saw and heard the two men side by side, his Force presence was another matter altogether.

Thus, whenever she stretched her awareness toward him – when her husband wasn't throwing her a warning glance not to distract the other Jedi as he worked at whatever he did for him – she could feel warmth, kindness... and... a Light that shone so bright that it was like a beacon in the night, chasing all the surrounding shadows, even the ones that she hadn't been aware of.

Like what she remembered of her farmboy.

Yet, even if Durron felt much more like her lover should, she wouldn't bet her life on what she thought right now because her husband was also still like her Luke, if in a much more serious, powerful, demanding and colder format.

And she _definitely_ felt as physically attracted to him as she had the first time around.

However, he also made her feel uneasy whenever he behaved or reacted in ways that began to resemble her ex-master's.

Was Palpatine truly dead? Or had he overcome Skywalker's mind and taken up residency in his body? And was that even possible?.. She wondered as she absentmindedly listened to their personal medic while he introduced his twins, a boy and a girl, to their emperor and empress. The children – both ten years old – curtsied perfectly and remained silent while their father vaunted their academic merits to their benefactors.

Both children, red of hair and blue of eyes, were dressed in fineries that reminded her of her own clothes as a child of the court. She sincerely hoped for them that their childhood was more pleasant than her own had been.

"Mara, my dear," her husband half-whispered as he set his artificial right hand on her left and leaned closer to her. "I think young Kaya asked you a question."

The ex-operative could have kicked herself in the shin for tuning so completely out of a conversation. "I'm sorry, my child," she apologized out loud. "I was just thinking that you reminded me of myself at your age," she added, throwing a surreptitious glance at her husband to gauge his reaction.

He didn't give her any sign of either sympathizing or rebutting her for making such an observation.

She refrained from frowning at his obvious lack of care, one way or another. That was a reaction that fit a lot more her ex-master than her beloved farmboy.

"What do you wish to know, darling?"

"Your Highness, I was wondering if you had holos of the Emperor when you grew up. Did you always know that you would marry him someday?"

While the adults chuckled in good natured amusement at the child's innocent and romantic question, Mara fought hard against her reflex to once again turn toward the ever silent and attentive Kyle Durron. 'Not _this_ Luke Skywalker,' her mind wanted to answer, '_that_ one.' However, she had been well-trained and so, she composed herself as if she had been amused as well by the romantic implication. "As much as I would have loved to stare at his figure all night long every night," she answered, glancing meaningfully at her husband – and at the man that stood by his left side, "Luke Skywalker was unfortunately unknown at that time. The first holo I saw of him was when he freed us all, a little over a year ago."

"Oh... and will your son be a prince now?"

Good-hearted laughter erupted from her husband and he slowly stood up before kneeling in front of the children who both locked eyes with him. "I very much doubt that the Senate will allow it," he answered simply. "Remember that we are restoring a democracy, not building another autocracy," he stated and Mara felt that he was putting the Force behind his words.

That puzzled her.

"Yes, your Highness," both children bowed their heads in respect.

Both of them dipping their chins to the correct level and at the same time...

Mara narrowed her eyes at that and stared intently at the children.

Yes, more and more, they _really_ reminded her of herself as a child in court.

Operative training and all...

* * *

That evening, the slave was finally told to return to his new quarters. He had just finished rejuvenating his master while he had spent the evening leading the current clone shift into their dark side meditation.

Luke, who had been brutally expelled from Anakin's mental space when Vader had called on the Force, had unfortunately gotten trapped in his space as the slave had already been using the Force to read people's minds. Then, there had been a moment of his brief respite, Luke had been too spent to even focus his thoughts on escape, and then the torment had resumed for long eternities on end when the slave began rejuvenating his master.

Thus, the beleaguered Jedi was utterly relieved when the Emperor finally – blessingly - sent his slave back to his quarters for the night. As his prime advisor, Palpatine provided _Durron_ with luxurious rooms located merely on the other side of the grand hall that led to the imperial residency itself. That arrangement had been justified by claiming a lack of efficiency in the former set up that had required his aides to rush back up and to the residence at the slightest cause.

Palpatine had even pushed the irony to the utmost by saying that the previous aides and councillors spent so much time by his side that they might as well live with him. Thus, no one had questioned his decision to build quarters for his fellow Jedi and advisor, to whom everyone now had to first speak to if they wanted to be heard by their Jedi ruler.

Kyle Durron was, for all intents and purposes, the buffer between the new emperor and the harpies that sought his favors.

The only individuals that also had their master's ear were, of course, those that were part of his elite group, hence already under his control.

That way, they kept up the illusion that the Jedi ruler truly worked hand in hand with the government employees so as to mutate the Empire with the least bloodshed possible in any way. In truth, however, Palpatine had reclaimed complete control of his domain and had no intention to allow anyone to play with even a part of it like they used to.

The abuses of the greedy and venal imperial higher class had almost cost him the galaxy. He had worked too hard and for too long to let it slip out of his fingers, and especially for the likes of them, or so he had told the slave during one of his private rants when they were alone and that he didn't have to maintain appearances.

It had taken Palpatine a near fiasco with the strengthening Rebellion, but he had finally understood that the illusion of justice was even more efficient than fear when it came to hold the galaxy in his grasp. Even better, unlike when they were afraid, lower beings actually stayed willingly in whatever position they were in if they were satisfied by it or felt safe and treated fairly.

That was his new tactic now: to create such a perfect illusion of justice and peace that no one would ever rebel against his invisible control ever again.

If Luke could have, he would have retched in disgust, but he was too spent and in remaining agony to even open his eyes.

Therefore, when that the slave entered his quarters, he was still recovering as fast as he could. Luke then discovered that a droid major-domo was assigned to the will-less slave so that he did what had to be done to ensure his keeping up appearances while maintaining his continued good health through eating, training, cleaning up and sleeping.

Since he had the order to obey the droid as he would his master, the slave listened attentively to the droid's instruction.

Sometime later, while the slave ate his diner, Luke recovered enough strength to return in his father's space.

He now knew that the slave was going to train in lightsaber techniques until well-past midnight.

He didn't want to be there when that happened.

* * *

That night, Mara Jade couldn't find sleep and, since she was not nearly the pretty bauble that everyone believed she had become, she dismissed all her servants and made her way into the residence's private training room.

She needed to vent some energy, and perhaps even some frustration while she was at it.

At least, she sighed, Luke was once again caught in a late-night meeting; whereas it used to upset her, because it meant that he wouldn't come to her that night, tonight, she was relieved that he was not nearby. She just kept drawing disturbing conclusions about what she had witnessed and felt throughout the past five days, and she was growing afraid of what his reaction might be.

Especially if he was still Palpatine in another skin.

She picked a training staff from the ante-room that led to the training room proper and twirled it around a little to test the state of her skills.

Satisfied, she stepped into the room – and stopped short as she became aware that it was already occupied. There, in the middle of the vast room, was Kyle Durron, training with a lightsaber and against four battle droids and as many remotes.

She had known that he was a Jedi seer, but to find out that he was also a most powerful Jedi fighter, perhaps even a master in his own rights... It was unnerving, to say the least.

'No wonder his Light outshines everything else,' she reflected as she stepped closer to study him further.

Unlike the dark and well-pressed suits that he wore when he was serving Luke in his role of advisor, right now, he was dressed in grey short training pants and a white sleeveless shirt. He was also already bathing in sweat, his spiky black hair standing on ends.

The lights of the room were kept to a dim setting so that his blue blade provided most of the available light.

For long minutes, she watched him at work, understanding, at last, why her husband had not only dismissed the royal guards a while back, but that Durron was now always by his side. The Force-adept was his bodyguard/Jedi partner in combat – the only help he'd ever need if Luke couldn't handle the danger on his own.

Not like old and frail Palpatine who had not been in any fighting shape... Although he hadn't been helpless, far from it.

However, back to Durron and Luke, if the newcomer was his bodyguard, why not display him as such instead of having him masquerade as a mere and weaponless Jedi advisor.

He was also the only advisor that now had Luke's ear. But where had he come from? Why hadn't she seen him anywhere before his introduction to the court, earlier this week? and why was he the only other Force-signature t hat hadn't ended up in the detention block and under ysalamiri control? How had he earned Luke's trust where even other Jedi had apparently lost it?

Or had he?

She watched the bodyguard/seer train some more, expecting him to notice her presence and make a comment, but he simply went on with his exercice, apparently oblivious to the fact that she was there with him.

Ten minutes later, she got fed up and cleared her throat to attract his attention. That worked and he turned his head toward her.

However, it worked a little too well because the droids continued their attack and shot his right hand while he was distracted.

Aware that they were set on kill – any and all training devices still were in the palace because Luke said that it kept them all on their toes – she reached out and turned off the training program even as she felt Durron turn off the droids that weren't part of the basic program.

He then turned back toward her and bowed respectfully. "My Lady, how may I be of service?"

"None of that, Mr Durron. You're hurt. Let me see your arm."

She stepped closer and studied his well-muscled arm – an arm that looked a lot like her husband's – and down his forearm and hand where the shot had hit him.

There was no blood!

Stunned, she looked up at him, who was stoically staring ahead, not meeting her eyes. "What are you?" she asked before she could stop her undiplomatic reflex.

"I am whoever my master wishes me to be, my Lady," he answered, still refusing to gaze at her.

She straightened up and planted her fists on her slim hips. That had been an answer straight from the Sith and not the Jedi handbook. She didn't like this at all.

"Who is your master?"

"The Emperor."

"Is Luke Skywalker your Jedi master?"

"No, my Lady."

"Is he a Sith Lord?"

"No, my Lady."

Yet he was referring to the Emperor as his master, and... A memory belatedly occurred to her and she grabbed again his wounded hand. Reaching out, she increased the lights to their maximum and studied the wound very attentively.

Wires and synthflesh. She ran her questing fingers up his palm, to his wrist, and- "That's an artificial hand, isn't it?" A right artificial hand, just like _Luke_.

He didn't answer her.

"Well?"

"I don't know, my Lady," Durron answered, and that completely puzzled her.

How could anyone with an artificial limb not know that they had one? How could they... unless they had forgotten about it.

Or had been made to forget about it.

Still holding his arm by his hand, she pulled it taut between them and twisted it slightly, just enough for the overhead lights to highlight the relief of his skin. Her husband had a smooth skin, which she had always accepted as a proof that the rumours that she had heard had only been that: rumours.

However, the moment that she caught sight of the numerous slight ridges on Durron's arm, she knew better. Only Luke Skywalker had been rumoured to be identifiable by his scars, so numerous were they after his escape from a month of interrogation on Balti.

That fact, combined with the revelation of an artificial right hand attached to his arm, was the last proof she needed: she was in front of the real Luke Skywalker, her farmboy-turned-Jedi-turned... *Luke," she sent through the Force, trying to reach him wherever he was, *what has he done to you? Please, be in there, please?"

She grabbed hold of his head and forced him to meet her eyes. From this close up, she could see a barely distinguishable, extremely thin line of blue around the pupil of his dull brown eyes, betraying the presence of permanent lenses to hide his baby blues.

As she rubbed her thumbs along his cheeks, she could also feel the presence of permanent facial prosthesis underneath his skin. As for his voice...

A disguise, she realized; it was all a disguise to hide him in plain sight while Palpatine used him and kept him at arm length.

Now _that_ was like the Palpatine she knew all right- and she was going to be sick.

She took a deep breath and focused back on the unresponsive Jedi. "What are your orders regarding me?"

"To answer your questions without revealing my whereabouts of the past year, and to defer to you and obey you as I would my master as long as it doesn't contradict his other orders."

"Which are?"

"To not reveal his secrets or my standing orders regarding them."

In other words, she frowned, if she managed to ask the right question - like at the moment - he could confirm to her that there were secrets and that Palpatine was using Luke's strengths to his advantage, but she couldn't know what he was planning and how.

Still, her _husband_ dear had made his first mistake. He had not censured his servant's speech enough to avoid his _revealing_ the existence of secrets to be found. He had also been overconfident in his prisoner's disguise and his own and hadn't expected her to even figure out that there was something to uncover about Durron and the Jedi ruler.

"Very well. What are your other standing orders?"

"To obey my major-domo in everything, to rejuvenate the Master every evening, even from a distance, to ensure his safety and continued reign by revealing any threatening thought or possible outcome that do not fit his plan, and to command the clone army when he orders me to."

More pieces of the puzzle were falling into place and they made her shudder in revulsion – until she processed his last words and froze in disbelief. "The clone army? You control it? By yourself?"

"Yes, my Lady. Their orders come through me but directly from the Master."

"Through the Force? A mental connection perhaps?"

"Yes, my Lady."

That meant that the real Luke was even more powerful than she had begun to surmise since figuring out the truth and, judging from the other standing orders that he had just rattled off like an automaton, or the fact that she never saw him interact with anybody but the Emperor, he was not free to even think on his own.

That major-domo thing could only mean that the droid was programmed to make him eat and accomplish basic actions to take care of himself while he was left to his own device. Clearly, the Emperor did not trust the Jedi any further than he could throw it and had obviously brainwashed him.

Still, how did Palpatine limit his development to only what he needed? As far as she knew, brainwashed victims were simply set on a new track and then they developed their knowledge and skills along that new path; they didn't speak and act like mere droids, and she had seen droids with more freedom of action than the Jedi she was staring at.

Indeed, whereas a droid would ask her if she needed anything else, Luke was still standing at lose attention in front of her, his gaze empty, his eyes staring straight ahead. And yet, she was rather certain that if she were to push him or attack him in any way, he would turn into the fighting machine that she had seen in action earlier.

She ran her hands through his very short black hair, down his unfamiliar cheeks, seeing _him_ in her inner eye as if he were Luke in body and spirit. *I'll find a way to free you," she sent in comfort. *I promise I'll put an end to this, my love."

She then reached into the Jedi's mind and erased the memories of his sensitive conversation with her. On a whim, she also removed the block that she had set up around his memories of their first meeting, so long ago.

She then called a lightsaber handle to her hand and stepped away from him. "Well, your hand is not hurt, and we are both here to get some exercise, so how about we fence together, huh?"

"As you wish, my Lady," he bowed again, and then assumed a battle-ready position and turned on his weapon.

He gallantly waited for her to make the first move.

* * *

In his spiritual prison, Luke Skywalker was tempted – really tempted - to stay a little longer and get to know Mara Jade once again but he knew better than to linger around when the slave was about to call on the Force again.

For the first time ever, he reluctantly returned to his father's space.

They had just found a new ally in their fight for freedom. Now they had to integrate her in their plan.

* * *

Aware that, if Palpatine even suspected that she had discovered the fate of the true Luke Skywalker, he would do to her what he had done to her true lover, Mara was extra careful to keep her thoughts in check and under multiple veils that she then disguised as a newborn interest to have a child with her husband.

She used little Maya's question as the perfect excuse for her new concern, and that new topic then allowed her to fend off any doubt that the fiend might have had about her growing unease when around him. In fact, her ploy worked so well that he even took measures to provide her with a demanding diversion and assigned her to the Senate's overworked welcoming committee.

As for anything regarding a prospective child, he sent her to their private medic to first ensure that it was safe for her to be pregnant after the interventions that she had had in the past.

She understood that whatever had been done to her had made her barren, but only temporarily so that his personal medic could fix whatever had been done to her and restore her fertility. She made a note to eventually visit that medic, but now that she had something to do with her time other than to be beautiful and subdued, she devoted most of her days to her new and easily overwhelming assignment, using it as an excuse to keep as much physical distance as she could between herself and Palpatine.

She even tried to obtain the service of Kyle Durron after a few days, but except for being allowed to consult him while they were at the residence or with him in court, he would not let his _prize_ go that easily.

But she was not done yet.

Thus, she studied her _husband's_ schedules and habits very carefully, learnt at what time he was aware of Luke's actions, and when he was finally sleeping and cut off from his direct contact with his Jedi slave while the other was left under the care and orders of his _major_-_domo_.

It was the only time that she could hope to interact with Luke again and she was careful not to make her true goal evident in any way.

Hence, almost two weeks after finding out about the Jedi slave, Mara finally felt confident and safe enough to dare approach the captive Jedi once again.

* * *

Like last time, she waited for the Jedi to be alone in the training room. That night, she came in, unlit lightsaber in hand, and knew exactly which order she would give him first.

The moment that she made her presence known, he interrupted his training session and bowed to her, just like he had done last time.

"Don't use the Force," she commanded instantly and stepped closer to him. "Now, rise."

He stood straight and continued to stare straight ahead even though she stepped around him in search of clues that would help her figure out what had been done to him. She ended up in front of him. "Tell me how I can help you."

The Jedi remained silent for a moment, and then his eyes shifted and he gazed at her. "Mara, listen to me. Our time is short."

That wasn't the answer she had been expecting; she gaped in confusion at him.

* * *

Inside Luke's spiritual prison, Luke and Anakin had fused their souls together and had taken control of the slave.

"Luke?" Mara Jade inquired, thoroughly confused.

"And Anakin Skywalker. Listen. Only Palpatine's medic can remove the collar from my body and free me. We can gain control of him, but the slave must not use the Force until we do or he'll stop us before we can do anything."

"The slave?"

"Durron," Luke explained shortly, referring to his controlled body and mind by their new name. "Hurt him with your blade and take him to the medic. Oh, and lower your shields a moment, please?"

Mara was obviously still befuddled by what was happening, but Luke and Anakin, who had been waiting for weeks to be able to contact her like this, knew that their window of opportunity was already closing. Palpatine was asleep, but a pike of Light like them combined would not go unnoticed for much longer.

Not without Mara's help anyhow.

Thankfully, the young woman lowered her shields like he had asked her; they reached out and quickly undid the block that had been set around her true bond with the Force. Her own Light instantly sprang free, even as she gasped in surprise.

Then, almost as quickly, both she and them reset her shields around her freed potential before they made sure that her presence didn't feel any different than how it used to.

"What?" she finally breathed, still in shock.

"Next time we break through like right now, shield us. And remember, as long as the slave doesn't use the Force, we can control it."

"Wait!" she interrupted him and took hold of his hands. "If you're my true farmboy, then why is Palpatine suddenly attracted to me?"

"Because our bond is physical and spiritual. He feels the physical part."

He barely rested his thick false lips on the crown of her forehead, and then pulled away and withdrew from her. He then allowed the slave to return, unaware of what had transpired.

Luke then felt the fire of Mara's blade just like the slave did as the red blade unexpectedly pierced through his collarbone and left shoulder.

"Oooops, Kyle, I'm sorry," she apologized convincingly once she had completed her lightning-fast move. "I thought that you were ready..."

Anakin, who had recovered his individuality, quickly grabbed his son's spirit and brought them back into his space just before the slave could call on the Force to dampen his physical pain.

Hopefully, their brief contact had been enough and Mara would soon control the slave so that they could return and, this time, really get answers to their questions about the collar.

* * *

In the training room, Mara dimly thanked her trainers for teaching her to think of her feet or she would have never been able to adapt to the situation quickly enough to avoid unpleasant consequences.

As it was, she felt her _husband_ stir awake at the spike of pain that came from the slave – she'd call him that as well from now on – but when he felt him focus on his healing and that she was fencing with him, he dismissed them both as inconsequential and fell back into a deeper state of sleep.

After all, Mara sneered in experience, training without pain wasn't proper training for his servants.

"Come with me," she commanded the slave after checking on his clean injury. "And don't use the Force anymore."

The slave naturally moaned as the balm of relief that had taken away the heat of the injury disappeared, but Mara playfully reassured him that she had already called the medic to their private medunit.

Two minutes later, painkillers had been injected in the slave and he was sitting quietly on an examination bunk.

"What happened?"

"Sparring accident," she shrugged mock-nonchalantly. In truth, though, her eyes were locked on Luke's, waiting for him to return from wherever he had broken out.

She almost – almost - kissed his false features when the vacant stare became alive once again. She then remembered that he needed her help and shielded both of them as best as she could.

"Doctor," he said serenely, "while you tend to the injury, tell us how to remove the collar."

"Collar?" she frowned. When Luke pointed at his neck, she frowned further until he gently took hold of her right hand and brought it up against his neck.

She instantly felt the concealed strip of metal. She balked in horror as she realized that it was _under_ the skin? What?!

"It first needs to be deactivated before it can be surgically removed," the medic answered.

"What is the deactivation code?"

"Only the Master knows."

"Figures," she snorted, stepping closer to inspect Luke's neck from a closer point of view.

"And if we don't follow those steps?"

"The subject dies."

* * *

Luke and Anakin exchanged a thought or two before they decided what to do.

"You will secretly sabotage the program of one of the elite so that his collar needs to be removed. Once you have the code, discreetly give it to Lady Jade. You will not talk about this with the Master, and you will be extra careful not be caught by anyone. However, you will not think about it either. You will only know that you have to do it. How soon can it be done?"

The medic finished securing the bacta patch over the shoulder and around the injured breast and shoulder blade. "One day to identify the perfect candidate, three days to implant the modified program, and an extra seven for it to have visible effects."

"Who's the _elite_?" Mara inquired from beside him.

"Other people that are held in service via the same Sith device. There are many more of us, although only Dad and I are Jedi. This medic is part of them."

"what about your father?"

"He's trapped in Vader, providing the spiritual connection that allows Vader to use the Force ust like I do with the slave. When we're used as channels, it is worse than torture and leaves us dangerously weakened for as long as we can't retreat in the other's mind."

"So that's why you don't want him to use the Force."

"When he does, not only am I in pain, but Dad can't be with me in my _prison_. We can only gain control of the situation when we are together, working as one, so for any of our plans to work, we must not be forced apart by unwanted Force usage by our bodies."

"Like right now."

"Yes, exactly like right now." He refocused his attention on the medic. "Can you dial down my programming? Allow me more freedom?"

"No, yours and Vader's programming are controlled solely by the Master."

*Oh well," Anakin thought to him, *it wouldn't have done us much good anyway."

"Mara," Luke said out loud. "Speaking of Vader, we already control him. He believes that he is on standby but, in truth, he is waiting for our orders to arrive here with the clones... my clones."

"Your clones? You mean that they are-"

"Jedi, yes. Or rather, Sith as long as they continue to obey Palpatine. Right now, their standing order is to meditate on his personal and greedy vision on the galaxy. They work in shifts, but given their huge number, that means that the galaxy is truly falling under their constant influence, thus Palpatine's."

"So how will they help?"

"I control them, remember? Dad and I will simply order them to obey Vader and kill Palpatine. However, for us to reach this point of our plan, Palpatine must not feel our newfound ability or even our combined presences. He must not suspect that he's losing control, not even a bit."

"I'll help in any way I can, don't worry. However, the slave has several duties that require him to use the Force. How will you gain control again?.."

"With your help. He is programmed to obey you as well as his major-domo, right? If either of you tell him not to use the Force, he won't."

"But Palpatine will then know that something is wrong."

"Not if it only happens late at night."

"Ah, so," she summarized seriously, "while I wait for this medic to provide us with the deactivation code, you want me to alter the major-domo's programming, correct?"

"Without attracting attention, of course."

"Of course." She gazed at him for a few seconds, and then turned back toward the medic. "What about his appearance, doctor. Is that truly permanent?"

"It can also be undone with a minor surgery."

"What about Vader, doctor?" Luke asked next. "Can _he_ also be restored or even completely healed?"

"His wounds are old, but medicine has greatly progressed. Undoubtedly, we can help him a lot. The master simply never brought him in for proper treatment."

While Anakin had held his breath about that one, Luke felt like crying in relief upon hearing this. There was also hope for his father.

The Force was indeed with them.

"Okay, so medic," Luke commanded and reached out with the Force, "you will forget that this conversation ever took place. Now get to work." Obediently, the medic turned toward a work station and began checking the status of the different elite members. Mara stared at the overcome man in awe, and then back at her lover. "Mara, in your pirate program, set a welcome phrase different from the usual and arrange for it to be used only after you activate it with a password. That way, I will know that you have obtained the code word and I'll return that night."

"Not before?" she pouted, disappointed despite the gravity of the situation.

"It's too dangerous, my love," he answered and gently touched her soft right cheek with his calloused left hand and dimly wished that he could stay with her forever. He already loved her so much after studying his memories of her in greater depth. "We can't take that risk," he reminded both her and himself.

"Then the phrase will be: Welcome home, farmboy, because it will really be your return home."

"May the Force be with us," he answered, ran his fingers down her opposite cheek, and then closed his eyes and he and his dad let go of their common control over the slave.

* * *

Mara grimaced as she watched him disappear before her spiritual eye. He was still there, of course, but not in any way that she could interact with him.

The slave, for his part, waited for her to tell him what to do next.

"Off to bed with you. Heal that shoulder now that it's been treated. Luke will not be happy if you are still incapacitated tomorrow morning."

"As you wish, my lady."

He stepped down the bunk and headed out, leaving his damaged t-shirt behind.

She winced despite herself as he walked straight under an overhead light panel and she caught sight of the numerous thin scars that criss-crossed his back.

Soon, she heartened herself, soon she would avenge both herself and him, and they would finally be reunited, for real this time. She only hoped that until then, her farmboy would not suffer again in any way.

* * *

Throughout the next days, Luke only returned to his own space when it was night on Coruscant, checking the slave's memories of his return to his quarters while the other was eating or showering in between Force-using sessions. As long as the greeting remained unchanged, he never stayed for long, returning to his father's side so that they could continue to control Vader and slowly set up the rest of their plan for their secret attack.

Their last action had been to reveal the truth to the Noghri agents that had been aboard Executor before informing them that Palpatine's lab on Byss and on Coruscant were the source of the poison that had destroyed their world. It was also where the aliens would find the neutralizer agent – ready for immediate usage - that they needed to restore their world to its once-pristine nature.

Since it was also the source of Luke's clones, and that the Noghri would not leave either labs intact, the Jedi were simultaneously taking care of two items on their list, namely to free the Noghri and to eliminate the risk of Palpatine transmigrating into another clone body or of a clone of Palpatine coming to life.

They had also began to prepare the officers of the fleet to the fact that they would soon be obsolete as the clones were commanded directly by the Emperor.

Like they expected and even hoped, many of the power-hungry men were not pleased with that information, especially since they would not be reassigned in other functions. Indeed, while the admirals and grand moffs would remain in their functions, but as mere military advisors to the new senate and the Jedi Emperor, no one would ever have command of the troops except the imperial ruler.

Whereas such news transmitted via inter-ship conference would normally have sent a wave of outrage through the Force and all the way to Coruscant and Palpatine, Luke and Anakin had silently exerted an extra ounce of their power to send to everyone the compulsion not to talk about this revelation to anyone but Vader; their practically intimate connection to the Force, thus to everyone else in the galaxy, made even the truly impossible possible for them

Hence, Palpatine remained in the dark about the rebellion that was taking shape aboard his fleet, a rebellion that the Jedi organized and synchronized further with each new contact by a disgruntled officer that pledged his allegiance to Vader if he could stop this outrage from happening.

What no one else realized, though, was that these officers would still be forfeited once the takeover was over. After all, there would be no room left for cruel fleet officers in the _new_ imperial republic, which the Jedi would truly help turn back into a democracy. Should any of them survive the clones after Palpatine's and Vader's deaths, they would simply believe that the attack had failed as Skywalker would remain in power until the senate could take over.

That only left the Alliance to take care of; the Jedi couldn't afford their interfering with the plan, yet they couldn't tell them about it either for fear of it leaking all the way to Palpatine. As Vader's unwilling witness, Anakin could confirm that a whole network of imperial spies was long-since entrenched and organized in the Alliance's command structure.

In the end, Luke simply sent a coded message to Princess Leia, identifying himself by using information that only he and her were privy to - that she had died on Mimban and that he had brought her back with the help of the Kaiburr crystal - and then simply warned her to stay away from Coruscant and imperial business until he contacted her again. He also warned her to keep this information secret from everyone except Mon Mothma, General Rieekan and Admiral Ackbar. General Madine was especially to be kept out of the loop.

Then, Luke checked on his body once again – just like he had every night of the past week - and finally heard the words that he had been waiting for. The next evening, both he and Anakin went into Luke's space before the slave had begun his training session, and quickly took control of him.

Then, they waited for Mara to show up as she was the only one who was _free_ to come and go as she wished.

* * *

Fortunately, they didn't have long to wait and, from her smile, they understood that she had felt the subtle shift of their appearance in Luke's mind. "I covered you as soon as I felt you," she said as she moved to hug him.

He discreetly shook his head in negative.

Although they were lucky that Palpatine hadn't installed surveillance or listening devices of any kind in his private training halls, they were still in enemy territory.

"Oh... right. Sorry. He is not home right now. I don't know where he is."

"He's probably in the underground secret labs. Do you have the deactivation code?"

"Yes, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

As per agreement, he and Anakin then withdrew their control and the older Jedi left Luke's space. Since they didn't know what to expect once Luke would regain control of his body and mind, they preferred to play it safe and separate so that if he weren't expulsed, Anakin wouldn't become trapped, or worse, lost to them.

"You are no longer useful to me, slave. I free you from your vow of allegiance."

Luke dimly reflected that it had to be the longest password he had ever heard and that it was a series of word that Palpatine would never say unless he really meant to - and then pain suddenly exploded in his head and he felt his body crumple down to the training mat even as he lost complete coordination and even the strength to support his own weight.

"Luke!" Mara yelped and instantly knelt by his side. "What's wrong? Please, be all right, please!.."

Her farmboy continued to moan and groan for what felt like long minutes but was only a few seconds, and then his tensed body relaxed and he rolled slowly on his back. "Ah... I had forgotten how painful it was..."

"Luke?"

He nodded even as he focused his attention a moment and made sure that his and Mara's shields were still in place to conceal his recovered control and awareness.

The Sith was still down in his precious labs, too engrossed in yet another diabolical ploy to notice the brief spike of pain that came from his Jedi slave. As for his _wife_, Luke knew now, she was of no concern, _restrained_ as she was in regards to her powers.

*Mara," Luke sent through the Force, *we need a private communication channel now. We must forge a bond like he forced on me but not an invasive one like his, I promise."

*Of course. We probably need it to also keep him from feeling my communicating with you because I also have a bond with him... He hasn't used it ever since he... you... anyway, let's do it."

Together, they worked quickly and established a link between their two souls. Once it was complete, they were both amazed by how natural it felt to have it there.

*Okay," Luke explained after checking his neck to make sure that nothing had changed there. *It happens tomorrow night, then. He is at his most vulnerable at the end of the day, when he returns home; we must fight hi together if we want to win."

*What about Anakin?"

*Can you call Vader from an untraceable station and free him as well? Everything else is in place."

*Consider it done. And until then?"

*I'll be the obedient Jedi slave and go on as if nothing has changed. It is only for an extra day anyway."

*Okay, then for appearances sake..." "I don't want to hurt you again, Mr Durron. I'll come back later."

At first, Luke wondered why she was bothering with the act in the camera-free room, but one of her servants then stepped through the door and he realized that she had felt the woman approach even before he had.

*Oops, I'm out of practice," he chastised himself sternly. *I need to be completely recovered by tomorrow morning." "Good night, my Lady," he said out loud and bowed at the waist.

Then, he reached out for his father, who was still surprisingly close despite Luke's recovered freedom. *It worked. Mara will soon free you as well. Until then, we wait, but the end is close. Oh, and Dad?" he paused briefly. *Turning it off hurts... but not as much as being leeched upon."

*I understand. And at least one of us is free, at last."

*Yes. Your turn is coming, too. Don't worry."

With a last sending of mutual reassurance, father and son broke contact.

The next time they would contact each other, the attack should be underway.

At least, if the Force was with them.

* * *

The next day, and almost a month before the official opening of the so-called senate, Palpatine felt particularly pleased from the day's proceedings. After all, not only had his slave detected much fewer thoughts of threat than usual – at last – but he had also received several useful gifts from the arriving senator. The Calamarian ships with advanced hyperdrives had been particularly welcomed, as had the surrendering of a ship full of weapons collected on Malastare from a population who now only wished for Peace.

Indeed, it had been a good day, as well as a proof that his Sith army was doing exactly what it was meant to do, namely overcome the galaxy without the need to shed more blood.

Or anyone the wiser about what was truly happening.

Vader, for his part, was finally able to track down the Corellian Jedi that had been eluding him up to now while keeping the rest of his officers in line with his true plans.

Then, his empress had surprised him by joining him when her committee meetings had finished earlier and tonight, since he felt in the mood for celebrating and that the medic had restored her fertility, he would give her the child that she wanted.

After all, the senate would soon be in place, and he didn't want her _too_ involved in the political process. Hence, a child of her own, or more, would be perfect to keep her occupied, and especially if she were plagued by nausea throughout her pregnancy, a detail that could be easily arranged.

He'd first have his slave drain himself as much as possible to hasten the healing trance tonight, and then he would return to her. He was not often physically attracted toward the girl to the point that he actually _wanted_ her, but he would be a fool to pass up this chance when she wanted it so much that she was feeling bad about herself not being able to play that role in their prestigious _couple_.

Well, if that could restore her mood and senses to the _flower_-_like_ delicacy that she had become throughout the past year, then all the better.

He smiled at her as he raised her hand to his lips, smooched her knuckles and she returned the smile with a blush that colored her cheeks while she tightened her fingers against his. No one would ever believe that she had once been his fiercest and most-able assassin, but then, she had always excelled at concealing herself in any given environment, his court being the first place where she had learnt her craft.

"I will quickly wrap up the day and return to you, my dear. Tonight shall be our night, as we so rarely enjoy together."

She gaped slightly in surprise at his statement, and then tightened her fingers again and bowed her head in silent gratitude.

As it should be. Even though he had never planned to someday make her empress at his side, he had really groomed her well for even that.

The small throng of courtesans and sycophants that he had allowed after him then fell back once they reached the private turbolift that brought him, his private entourage and two guards to the residence's level.

Unlike his old entourage that had counted at least five permanent staffers and several advisors and their aides of various expertise, his new inner circle included only his empress, his Jedi slave, his secretary that took care of his loaded schedule and two of his former advisors turned aides. When his medic was available, he was also admitted in his close circle, all of them elite members save for Mara Jade, who was like the extension of his will simply because she had never known otherwise.

Once outside of the turbolift, the guards remained behind with their fellow guards and in front of the lift while the others continued with him. He dismissed his secretary and aides to their common office, and, only once they were inside the residence per se did he turn to his Jedi slave. "Wait for me in my office. We will be short tonight."

"As you wish, my Lord," he bowed and walked down the corridor that led to the office rooms.

He focused back on his _wife_. "I wish to make tonight really special, my dear. Please, order a dinner unlike any we've had in far too long."

"Of course, my Lord."

He then headed for his office and the rejuvenation trance he was _also_ looking forward to. Even though it had been a great day, he was still running out of young energies faster than he liked and he knew that he'd need a lot of them for tonight.

For a moment, he was tempted to have the real Skywalker temporarily restored so that he could step in and do the deeds for him, making the girl believe that it was him – it would be easy enough to accomplish and would not be very costly to him – but he decided against it.

After all, he _did_ have urges even if they were rare in between; he'd satisfy himself tonight and would get another healing trance in the morning so as to recover completely from the night.

He savoured his sensation of perfect contentment for a second or two, and then stepped inside his office that he had remodelled after taking over Skywalker's identity. Nowadays, he sat behind a large light-colored wooden desk, ensconced in a deep and self-conforming chair, and whereas his walls had been filled with expensive pieces of art and displays of his galactic power, it was now covered by cases of books and reader disks, as well as a large holomap of the galaxy on his left. He had also reduced the size of the room by two thirds, yet the two resulting anterooms could still be opened to allow more people in his office if need be.

Still, he was in his personal space right now, where he now allowed only his inner circle anymore.

Of course, if he ever needed to meet with more people than his Jedi slave, his aides and/or his secretary, the palace was filled with hundreds of meeting rooms that were better suited for the occasion. However, the illusion that he was not like _Palpatine_ had required that change and so, he had modified it as needed.

It didn't matter much to him anyway.

He motioned with his fingers and closed the doors behind him- when a startled sense drew his attention back around and he re-opened the doors to see his wife and her servants running after him. "Luke!" she called, foregoing any and all protocol in the emergency of the moment.

"What is it?"

"My Lord, the Fleet is here! In the sky of Coruscant!" a servant shrieked.

"They're coming here!"

Palpatine reflexively reached out with the Force and activated the comlink on his desk even as he rushed toward it. "General Murta, report!"

"The shields are raised, your Highness, but they came out of hyperspace too close to the planet for us to keep them away from the planet. More ships are coming in and taking position in orbit. The red alert has been given but the clones won't move. We are limited to the automatic defences. Byss is also under attack, but from inside."

"What?" he roared even as he noticed the girl's actions with the doors; he whirled toward his Jedi slave- who suddenly buried his lightsaber right into his guts before he slashed partly to the left, the right, and up. The Jedi didn't say anything – didn't have to. His eyes, even disguised, told him everything.

Revenge was theirs now, not only for the Jedi, but for all of his victims.

* * *

The moment that she felt Luke prepare his lightning-fast attack on the Emperor, Mara, who was already inside the office, reached out and shut the doors with the Force, purposefully leaving her caring servants and anyone else out of the upcoming face-off.

The doors had barely locked that Luke's lightsaber was in Palpatine even as his senses were already straining to stop Palpatine from escaping his fate.

*Focus with me now, Mara. He must not escape before he dies."

The two of them thus focused on enveloping Palpatine's spirit just like Luke had done whenever he had been made to help the other's transmigrations. Like then, the Jedi created an inescapable film of energy that efficiently contained the dark soul of the despot. However, unlike the other times when he had welcomed this effort, this time, Palpatine fought against it with all his powers; Mara's added strength made a big difference and kept him sealed inside.

Then, a third presence joined their efforts – Anakin, she realized – and the darkness that was Palpatine began to shriek and wilt as intense Light slowly but surely burnt him away.

With a last cry of despair and rage, the evil soul of the most powerful Sith lord ever finished to dissipate and did not even return to the Force. Instead, it simply vanished as if he had never been, and then so did his body as the foul energy that filled it evaporated as well.

Without both Luke's Light and Palpatine's control to stop its ravages, it had simply destroyed the contained body but not the clothes that the Jedi would need afterward.

She then rushed into her lover's arms and kissed him in jubilation, prosthesis be damned. She had missed him so much! "We did it!"

"Thanks to you!" he agreed after he returned her embrace. ". But it's not over yet. Is the medic here?"

"As you asked for."

"Okay, hold the political fort until I return. Dad is on his way and synchronizes the clones' attacks. They will take out the military officers that were behind this attack of the fleet. The civilians will be safe, but keep them out of any accidents."

"You got it."

"And Mara?"

"yes?

"Be careful," he said gently.

"You, too."

They quickly kissed again, and then Mara remained in the office while Luke reluctantly scooped up Palpatine's empty former clothes and ran out a side door and toward the medcenter where the medic was waiting for him, although the doctor didn't know that exactly.

* * *

Aboard his shuttle, Anakin ordered the clones to remove the officers from the picture and to secure both the executive and military floors of the palace.

Early evening as it was, there were less people in the offices than during the day but they would still be anything but deserted. The military floors and command center would be particularly busy because of the ongoing attack, but he knew just how to neutralize them, or rather, the Noghris did. He would simply be careful to give them specific orders to spare the lives of everyone except the commanding officers and anyone who could take command after them.

As for himself, it was time for Vader to make one final appearance before he disappeared forever.

He and their now Jedi-controlled, lightsaber-armed troopers headed straight for the detention level where the older Jedi captives were being kept barely alive. Before he entered the Force-less bubble, though, he sent a spark of energy down the relays that connected the ysalamiri's frames to the network; the extra charges fried the animals' life-support systems.

By the time that the lift touched bottom, the lizards had trespassed, which left the remaining royal guards completely defenceless against an entire squad of trained Jedi troopers and a group of suddenly-released Jedi potentials who wanted freedom. Their communications were also easily disabled, isolating them from the rest of the palace and the ongoing operation.

Between the stray blaster bolts, the laser rebounds, the slashing lightsabers and the yells of fury and pain, no one noticed the Dark Lord of the Sith when he discarded and stashed his helmet, mask, and cape, or even when he replaced them by those of a regular trooper. He then disguised his armour with the Force and went back upstairs with the first troopers that escorted the ex-prisoners to a safe station.

During the time in transition, he erased the troopers' memories of his ever going down with them to the Jedi detention block. Since their minds were all identical, it took him half the time that would normally be required to achieve that many partial memory wipes. He also erased his extra presence from the minds of everyone that shared the lift with him on the way up.

Then, after they exited the lift, Anakin swiftly disappeared inside a secret corridor where he could remove the helmet that was interfering with his temporary breathing mask.

The chaos was such that no one wondered about him, especially since both he and Luke made sure that no one thought about inquiring about Vader's whereabouts until at least the end of the internal battle.

* * *

After the command center fell, all the information and requests for orders were routed through the political levels where Mara, one of Luke's two aides and an escort of four guards had headed right after leaving the residence. When it was obvious that everyone had expected the Emperor to show up, she explained that she had been sent in advance while he dealt with the treacherous Lord Vader who had shown up at the imperial residence.

The clone troopers - which no one knew had been involved in a rescue operation elsewhere in the palace - were only present to ensure their protection and requested all non-essential personnel to report to the drop chutes of the safety bunkers.

That left a dozen or so advisors for Mara to deal with, or at the very least contain until Luke could show up, as himself this time. Still, she had been bemoaning the fact that she was more than a bauble and could contribute more than she had for a while; there was a chance to finally reset the record straight with those that mattered beside Luke.

"Gentlemen," she stated calmly, interrupting their unceasing bickering and pointless arguing. "We need to remain level-headed right now. Aside from an attack by Vader on the Emperor, the fleet hasn't opened fire on us or on the planet. The clones aboard the ships have undoubtedly regained control of the few renegades that brought them here, and Lord Vader is probably the true responsible for this unpleasant surprise. I suggest we refrain from committing mistakes against our own allies and simply wait for their next move."

"My Lady, it is true that they have hold back so far, but we cannot simply sit here and—"

"With what army, councillor Derow? The command center has been hit by renegades, the clones do not take any new order unless it comes directly from his royal highness, and these offices do not have any way to contact the fleet. That has always been the military's prerogative."

"And the military center is under enemy control," the first one concluded. "Then what can we do?"

"The only thing we can do," Mara answered. "wait and remain calm, and issue a message to implore the citizens who haven't made it to the bunkers to do the same. They will undoubtedly be looking for leadership right now; we _must_ be the strong and unwavering leaders that they require."

"Won't the clones stop us?"

"We have everything we need to produce an audio announcement right here, in the communication room," someone else pointed out.

"Exactly. First, however, we need to plan this correctly. Administrator Qua'ar, you are the finest public speaker amongst us. Please, write a draft of the announcement. We will then adjust it together."

He bowed his head in respect and headed toward a nearby office where he could concentrate on his task.

Meanwhile, Mara focused the others' attention on the reports that were already airing on almost every channel of the holonet. She asked them to concentrate on how they would contain this situation after it was over.

She then took a moment to reach out and check on Luke's progress.

He was almost done.

* * *

While there hadn't been time to remove the cursed collar that Luke could now feel like a tight noose around his neck, barely lose enough so as to not choke him, Palpatine's medic had still been right about the ease with which he could remove his disguise.

In fact, the longest part of the operation had been to restore his hair so that they looked exactly like Palpatine's had during the day. Temporary crawlers had done the trick for the color while growth agents had lengthened them enough so that they fairly resembled his more usual looks. A little length adjustment later and he had been ready. As for the rest of his disguise, a special laser ray had dissolved the color lenses from his irises, returning them to their original blue color while a special topical cream had loosened his fake facial skin until it could simply be cut away from the prosthesis, finally exposing them so that they could be removed. Finally, he stoically changed into Palpatine's former clothes, and then disguised them with water, dust, a laser scalpel, and a tear or two and he had looked like fake-Luke fresh out of a fierce duel against Darth Vader.

He then erased all the memories of the operation from the medic's mind and, when Anakin had arrived through the currently-deserted residence, Luke had given to the medic the order to remove the collar from his father's body before healing him as completely as possible.

It would be the medic's last act while under the control of the defunct Palpatine. After that, it would be his turn to be released, although they would need to prepare for that if they wanted someone to remove the collar from the medic himself.

At long last, Luke rejoined the rest of the palace, dressed in the now artistically torn and altered tunic that the Emperor had worn at the moment of his demise. He also wore his lightsaber at his hip – the lightsaber that he had recovered with Palpatine's clothes before leaving for the medunit – and he made certain to look really worried about the rest of his constituents.

The moment that he finally stepped out of the residence's main doors, the Jedi troopers snapped a salute and cleared a passage for him. "Stand down," he ordered them grimly. "Protect the citizens." He looked at the military aide that was standing nearby in readiness. "Transmit this order to everyone."

He then ran down the suddenly cleared corridor and all the way to the lift that would take him down to the political and military offices. "You four, come with me," he ordered, pointing at the four troopers that stood closest to the lift doors. They silently obeyed and the five of them disappeared behind the shutting door.

Everyone who had been present in the hallway of the imperial residence that evening would be telling and retelling how the Jedi emperor had come out after the duel, forgetting his own injuries and caring only about the citizens before he rushed to the Empress' side and reasserted his control of the situation.

* * *

'Count on the media to milk it to the utmost,' Mara reflected in annoyance while she checked the time once again.

It had been over an hour now.

She was about to check on her lover once again when she heard several heels snap in smart salute all at once.

Luke had arrived.

Smiling in genuine relief, she turned toward the main doors just before they split open to reveal a dishevelled, cut and bruised and utterly focused Luke Skywalker. While everyone else believed that they were still in the presence of the same emperor that had dismissed them for the day, Mara was simply amazed at how perfect the illusion was.

There he was, _her_ farmboy as he should really be, looking _and_ feeling exactly as she remembered him, if in an improved version is she said so herself. She also acknowledged his expert work at disguising the circumstances of the last hour; she wouldn't have done better that that. Then, he spoke and she understood that he really wasn't her naive farmboy anymore.

But then, she reminded herself, he had been a flight commander in the rebellion, a Jedi Knight that had survived at least one duel against Vader – not many other Jedi could claim that – and he had been unwillingly strengthened and trained in strategy and deceit by the master strategist and deceiver himself. If anyone doubted that the young Jedi could hold an empire together even during a crisis, they realized better the moment that he addressed them.

"What's the situation? Did they attack again?"

Everyone had bowed except Mara; they straightened and the most experienced of the group stepped forward to answer him. "Your highness, except for the attack on your residence and in the command center, nothing else has been reported. We were about to transmit a message to enjoin the citizens to remain calm and cooperative if they were not in a safe place already."

"Here's the speech we agreed on, my Lord," Mara offered, handing him the pad that contained the speech that they had been working on for the past thirty minutes.

"Thank you, my love," Luke answered, and when she met his eyes, she understood that he meant for more than her handing the pad to him.

She delicately brushed a drying droplet of blood from the cheek that he had purposefully cut and bruised. "Always a pleasure."

They gazed a little longer at each other, and then Luke was back in business. "I'll make the announcement myself. It was a good initiative, but I fear that this has been the shortest and most ill-planned coup that the galaxy has ever witnessed. We need not remain here any longer." He then turned on his heels and walked fast toward the still waiting clone troopers. "Commander, reconfigure to a yellow alert level. Await further orders. I need a comlink."

The trooper acknowledged his order and gave him his portable comlink before he ordered the other Jedi troopers to change positions and spread further apart and throughout the palace.

Meanwhile, Luke turned toward his present aide. "I need a transport speeder ready on the east landing platform in two minutes. Call the nearest holostation. We are broadcasting live in five minutes."

He then took Mara's hands and they both ran toward the east landing platform. While he ran, Luke reached out and contacted the clones aboard the star destroyers, ordering them to return into orbit and to pull away from striking distance.

By the time that they would contact the whole galaxy to reassure them that the dream of peace and justice was still more alive and vibrant than ever, no one would doubt his words as they would not feel threatened anymore in any way.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that? How did you like how Palpatine was finally defeated? Was it hard enough but realistic enough to make your fun last but still reward your patience and continued interest with a satisfying final confrontation? How did you like Mara's role to unknowingly put everything in motion after figuring out the truth? How did you like the medical and military details that they had to consider in their plan and how they made Vader take the fall for the coup? How much did you grimace when Palpy thought about making Luke bed Mara for him that night? In your opinion, what was Palpatine's greatest weakness that caused his demise? Was it his overconfidence in his invincibility? His underestimating Mara? His underestimating the Force and its will to reunite the two pre-destined soulmates? Or was it Vader's control over the fleet and the loyalty he earned from disgruntled officers? How about Mara's role as Empress before she knew the truth? And after the coup while she waited for Luke to return from the medcenter? How about our young Jedi as he stepped into Palpatine's former shoes? Any other thought you'd like to share? :) Any idea as to what awaits them next? Would you like to read more, much more as to how Luke handles the transition with the help of Mara, his father, and Leia and friends? Or would a mere epilogue suffice for this story?

Have a great holiday season everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long! And I LOVE to hear from my readers :)


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